Antonio Cairoli regained the series lead with the MX1 victory in Latvia.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli has regained control of the MX1 points chase at the Latvia round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, while Joel Roelants earned his first-ever MX2 victory on his Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit ride.

Cairoli took the overall MX1 win via a solid 1-2 moto score. The defending champion dominated moto one before a big crash in moto two saw the Italian suffer a slight wrist injury.

Cairoli made the charge back to second place before the chequered flag flew to salvage the round win.

Behind Cairoli it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Ken De Dycker who occupied the second step on the box.

With 2-3 finishes De Dycker gained his first MX1 podium of the 2012 season, the Belgium rider will be aiming to continue this form throughout the season remainder.

Rounding out the podium was Kevin Strijbos on his HM Plant KTM UK backed ride. After taking a 10th place in moto one, the Belgian rebounded in moto two with an impressive victory, his first MX1 moto win since 2007.

Cairoli now leads the MX1 points by 12 over previous championship leader Clement Desalle on his Suzuki.

In the MX2 Class a big shake up was witnessed as both Tommy Searle and Jeffrey Herlings suffered mechanical issues in the Latvian mud. Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Joel Roelants took advantage of the situation while both title favourites Searle and Herlings tried to control the damage.

Roelants’ 1-2 moto scorecard saw the Belgian rider step onto the MX2 podium for the first time in Latvia. Suffering goggle issues in moto two, Roelants was forced to enter pitlane mid-race before making a final charge to the finish which was enough to snatch up the win by just two points over second place rider Jeremy van Horbeek.

A disappointed Van Horbeek rode his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine to a 1-3 overall score, placing himself on the second podium spot. The Belgian rider dominated from beginning to end the second moto, but disaster struck for Van Horebeek as he crashed while fighting for the first position.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier was next up on the podium in third for the day. The French rider rounded out the podium with consistent with 5-3 moto scores.

After Searle suffered dual DNF finishes, Herlings was able to salvage a seventh for the round with only one DNF finish on the day. Herlings now leads the MX2 points chase by 41 points.

The FIM Motocross World Championship travels to Russia next week for the eleventh Grand Prix of the season on 22 July.