Article by: Geoff Meyer – Photo: Antonio Cairoli – Ray Archer image
When talking about Italian Motocross it is easy to look at Antonio Cairoli as the man of the moment. And rightly so with six FIM World Motocross Championships and 56 Grand Prix victories he is the most successful Italian Motocross rider of all time, but before him there were some pretty fast Italians.
The first truly great Italian rider was Alessandro Puzar (who is in fact the hero of Cairoli). Puzar won the 1990 250cc championship and the 1995 125cc Championship, along the way winning 23 Grand Prix overalls. He was known for his fighting qualities and never give up attitude.
Puzar began his motocross career in 1988 riding a KTM. His 1990 World 250cc title win in was on a Suzuki and in 1995 he won the 125cc motocross world championship on a Honda. Along with Andrea Bartolini and Alessio Chiodi, Puzar was a member of the winning Italian team in 1999 Motocross of Nations, held in Brazil.
After Puzar came Alessio Chiodi, another of the small built riders who would work hard to receive success. Chiodi won the 1997 FIM Motocross World championship in the 125cc class on a Yamaha. The following year he switched to the Husqvarna factory racing team and repeated as 125cc world champion. In 1999 Chiodi won his third consecutive 125cc world championship, also on a Husqvarna.
Chiodi moved to America in 2000 to compete in the AMA National championships, although after a crash at the Bologna Supercross at the end of the 1999 season the Italian injured his wrist and was never the same again.
Afterwards, he returned to Europe to compete in the world championship before switching to the four-stroke world championship. Chiodi was also a member of the winning Italian teams in the 1999 and 2002 Motocross of Nations. Chiodi won 27 Grand Prix’s in his career.
Andrea Bartolini was the last of the 1990’s World Champions from Italy, winning the 1999 500cc Championship in a great battle with Joel Smets and Shayne King. The Yamaha factory rider proved to be the most consistent and became the first Italian to win the 500cc class. He won 15 Grand Prix’s in his career.
Obviously when Antonio Cairoli came onto the scene Italy was missing a leading rider in the FIM World Motocross Championship, but his thrilling style and will to win brought him World MX2 Championships in 2005, 2007 and 2009, before he moved to the MX1 class and began to dominate the class, winning in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He is currently the leader in the MX1 Championship points and looks a good bet to pick up World Championship number seven in 2013. Cairoli has 56 GP wins and counting.
David Philippaerts joined Cairoli as a World Champion, however his MX1 Championship came in 2008 for the Rinaldi Yamaha team, the same team that had helped Puzar, Chiodi and Bartolini to World title success. A hard worker Philippaerts also won 12 Grand Prix overalls. In recent years injury have stalled his career somewhat, but his performances at the Motocross of Nations have always shown what a World class rider he is.
