Magnificent 7

And, in a field boasting a dozen genuine factory riders and a further five GP winners ‘TC#222' won nine of 17 GPs, 20 out of 34 motos – and only once finished off the podium or outside the top four in a moto until he was assured of the world crown. 

 

Cairoli once again proved his resilience in any conditions as he crossed the line first in moto two 12 times and only failed to win at least one moto on two occasions.

 

As in three of his four previous MX1 campaigns the Sicilian didn't win either the opening GP or the series finale – he has never had to go to a last round showdown.

 

But his perception of the strength of the opposition was evident from early in the campaign, as he put his mark on the red plate from round two, took no prisoners all year, and handed out the killer blow yet again, with a stunning series of victories as the pace wound up in July.

 

Early season internationals took on even more significance in 2013 as the World Series launch was brought forward to the first weekend of March.

 

But everyone was ready in Qatar as GP racing introduced a couple of ‘firsts' – the first floodlit GP, and the first ‘Superfinal'.

 

In a country where fuel costs just 60pence a gallon (and bottled water a tenner a pint!) and sport is a hobby for the native population, the expenditure of running generators for the lighting is not a headache.

 

And a few early morning alterations to the positioning of the floodlights after feedback from practice meant that none of the competitors were straining their eyes, even if the Lux level for the motocross was minimal compared to the beams lighting up the tarmac lap all night, even though the road-race circuit wasn't in use. 

 

Oh well, what's a little extravagance when you own a few oil wells?

 

The opening moto of the series saw Cairoli come home third after an uncharacteristically poor start and stern resistance from Evgeny Bobryshev, as Clement Desalle and Ken De Dycker disappeared into the distance, but ‘TC' still ended up topping the podium at midnight... even though he didn't win the GP.

 

Suffice to say that the ‘confrontation' of the classes never stood the test and the action up front was all about MX1.

 

Desalle holeshot in Qatar, but Cairoli was immediately on his rear wheel and the Belgian, whose mathematical skills go far beyond the realisation that 1-2 scores more than 3-1, offered little resistance as he secured the first ‘red-plate' – identifying the series leader – of the 2013 series. 

 

He was still shaking his head in disbelief next morning, however, as he perused the second-place trophy, after Youthstream had decided that the podium would be based on the televised ‘Superfinal' alone.

 

However, just a week later that rule had been revised...