The first round of the 2011 Motocross World Championship has been hosted by the hard track of Sevlievo, Bulgaria: AXO riders Nagl and Cairoli took the fourth and the ninth spot overall at the end of a difficult week end.

Aboard his KTM 350cc of the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Racing MX1, Nagl produced a strong performance in Race 1, where he finished fourth. In Race 2 he took a decent start around 10^th spot and  was working his way up as a stone hit his goggles, forcing him to throw them away. The German clinched his teeth and kept sixth spot until the chequered flag, which meant he was fourth overall at the end of the day.

Max Nagl: "I am a little bit disappointed because I am not on the podium today, but all in all this is just the first race and the result is OK. I think I can only improve with the 350 and produce good results, so I am looking forward to the next race in Valkenswaard, a track that I like”.

Tony Cairoli had to call it a day, nevertheless he managed to clinch ninth at the end of the first Grand Prix of the season. In Race 1 he hit the dirt with the left leg and was in a lot of pain: he probably twisted his knee but he will undergo further exams during the week to check the situation. Notwithstanding the pain, Cairoli was at the start of Race 2, where he clinched tenth after being involved in a pile up, which forced him to come back.

Davide Guarneri continued to impress, finishing a strong 5th in the first moto before an incident at the start of the second race when another rider crashed in his path cost him several places. The Italian fought hard to recover to 11th place at the finish, sufficient to leave him 7th in the championship.

Davide Guarneri: “I was pleasantly surprised to get the pole position in the pre-qualifying session yesterday as there are so many fast riders now in the MX1 class! I made a good start in the first moto and battled with Philippaerts for most of the race to finish fifth. I had a better start in the second race but Philippaerts crashed in front of me at the first corner. There was nowhere to go and I lost a lot of time, but I was able to recover back to eighth even though I had more troubles with the track in this race. There were more bumps, more ruts and my lines were not as good as earlier in the day; during the last ten minutes I felt tired and made a mistake in the waves section. This incident cost me three positions, but seventh position in the championship is a good basis to work on.”

Steve Ramon entered the weekend feeling the after-effects of flu and was unable to gel with the track, both on Saturday and Sunday. The former World Champion suffered with arm-pump in the first moto and took 10th and collected 12th in the second for 12th overall.

Good job for our “Motocross Lady” Francesca Nocera, who took the fourth spot overall at the end of two intense motos.