MXGP World Champion Tony Cairoli has told Italian TV that he will not participate in round 15 of the FIM series in two weeks time at the Mantova circuit and the Grand Prix of Lombardia.
The Red Bull KTM rider was present at Lommel with a light cast on his left arm as he strives to recover from a fracture around the elbow joint.
Cairoli had originally planned to stand away from the series for two events and was allegedly keeping a close eye on Romain Febvre’s progress at the weekend to see if the current series leader would fail to make decent points on his Lommel debut with the YZ450F. Febvre picked up his ninth consecutive podium finish however and while 84 points ahead of Gautier Paulin, Cairoli now trails the Frenchman by 131 with just 200 left to win.
Mantova would have been a third home Grand Prix of the season for Cairoli and he has removed expectation and pressure around his performance – when clearly still not fully fit – by announcing that he will not be entering the paddock on August 22-23, even though the GP is still over a fortnight away. Whether the Sicilian will be able to consider making a gentle comeback for the Grand Prix of Netherlands a week later at Assen remains to be seen.
