Tony Cairoli gave the Italian fans just what they’d come to see as he took a stunning overall victory in the Trentino MXGP in Italy. He won the first moto by just two seconds from Swiss ace Arnaud Tonus, with world champ Tim Gajser in third. Cairoli had taken the holeshot and battled with Gajser but held his own at the front. Tonus managed to nip past the Honda man towards the end of the race.

Second time out Cairoli clashed with Gajser in the first corner and then fell in turn two. Remounting quickly, he put on a staggering ride through the pack on a circuit that he’s known not to particularly like. He came back from 22nd place and on the last lap managed to overtake Gajser’s HRC team-mate Evgeny Bobryshev for second place, giving the Italian the overall win and his 79th GP victory.

Gajser took the race win from Cairoli and Evgeny Bobryshev. But that meant the eight-times world champ took the overall from Gasjer, and clawed back just two points from the Slovenian’s title lead. Jeffrey Herlings took a fourth place in the second race in his best ride of the year.

Cairoli, still fuming after his second corner spill, said: “I worked very hard as I was very angry. I wanted to be on the podium at least. I saw it was possible to win and I did my best and made some special passses. I’m very happy!”

Tonus, seventh in the second moto, took third overall for his first MXGP podium on a track that suits him well.