Italian Antonio Cairoli won his fourth world title in Brazil on Sunday.

The Brazilian Grand Prix handed overall winner Tony Cairoli and KTM their first success in the MX1 class since their association started at the beginning of the 2010 season, marking also the debut of the revolutionary KTM 350 SX-F which Cairoli exploited fully to win his fourth world title in a hot day at Campo Grande.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli made the most of this first Grand Prix of Brazil, which saw the Italian’s fourth world championship win at the end of an eventful day.

Cairoli recovered form a bad start in the first moto to take an eventual second through a last lap move on Clement Desalle – the duo was too far from heat one winner Philippaerts.

In the final moto Cairoli started better and placed himself in the runner up position behind leader Desalle but crashed and dropped back to fourth. Another recovery followed with Cairoli taking the second place back.

Three laps to go leader Desalle, who was too far to be caught by Cairoli, bumped into a technical issue and his bike stopped. A dramatic win was handed Cairoli, who managed to top the podium from runner-up David Philippaerts and at the same time take the title at his debut season with KTM – the manufacturer returning to victory in the top class after their last success from 1985.

“I did not expect to win here but it is always nice to be world champion as soon as possible,” the 24-year-old said. “I did not take any risks and I was also a bit lucky that Desalle stopped, but that is racing. For sure I am happy with the new bike. I never had to stop for any technical problem and that is really important if you want to be constant. I love this bike and the whole team, they have helped me a lot!”

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts was back onto the podium after his third place from Teutschenthal. The Italian took pole yesterday and made the most of it by winning the opening moto.

The second heat though was a different story, as he ended second behind Cairoli and dropped down to second on the podium despite ending level in points with the Sicilian. Philippaerts was the first racer to congratulate Cairoli on his title victory as he went to shake hands with his countryman right after he crossed the finish line.

Third on the podium was Cairoli’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 teammate Max Nagl, who was also surprised about being inside the top three. The German raced to fourth in the first moto and took third in moto two –where he got the holeshot- despite a crash. Nagl said this was a special podium as he found his team mate on top and could join him and the whole team for the world title celebrations.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Desalle instead had a day to forget at Campo Grande. The Belgian was in second place when Cairoli attacked him and moved past in the last lap of moto one. After taking third, Desalle was on route to win moto two and the overall but his bike stopped due to a technical issue, marking an early end to Desalle’s Brazilian GP – which he won in 2009.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 team mate Steve Ramon’s fourth place was a good consolation for the Geboers-managed squad, with the racer combining a seventh and a fourth place in the heats.

Rui Gonçalves ended the top five, making it a big day for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 team. Davide Guarneri took sixth overall ahead of Kiwi Josh Coppins.

Tanel Leok, Desalle and American Jimmy Albertson completed the top 10 ahead of Antonio Balbi, who was the best placed Brazilian in Campo Grande.

Taking his second Grand Prix victory in three GP’s, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Ken Roczen did make up for the troubled qualifying race of yesterday.

The 16-year-old German went on to win both heats for the first time in 2010 and topped the podium from championship leader Marvin Musquin. The duo made it a hard fought MX2 Grand Prix as they battled tooth and nail for victory in both occasions, passing each other several times until Roczen would eventually pull away to take victory.

Musquin instead could not take the world title as team mate Cairoli did in the MX1 class. Losing six points on runner up Roczen was not a big deal for Musquin, who still has a 72 point advantage with 100 points still up for grabs.

Taking second overall, the French mounted on the podium for the tenth time in 2010 and looks forward to the next round in Lierop where he hopes to celebrate the championship win.

Someone who had never seen the podium before Campo Grande instead was Kawasaki CLS’ Jeremy Van Horebeek, completing the top three today. The Belgian rode with a twisted knee to take sixth in race one after a bad start and third in moto two, where he charged hard to pass Gautier Paulin and settle for an eventual top three finish.

Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’s Arnuad Tonus was fourth overall, taking third in moto one and sixth in the final heat, while Zach Osborne completed the top five.

Joel Roelants was sixth ahead of Steven Frossard, the latter having a tough day in Brazil but still holding the third place in the championship.

Paulin also had a tough day with race one affecting his Brazilian outing. The Frenchman and Shaun Simpson came together in race one and the contact damaged Paulin’s bike, forcing him to pull out. In the crash Simpson dislocated his left shoulder and did not take part in heat two.

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