His win in Latvia was carefully planned and done with effectiveness, he never looked in too much trouble and even when Bobryshev and Frossard put big pressure on Cairoli just took it on the chin and fought back.

It was Grand Prix win number 40 for the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory rider and that win brings him now into fourth place in the all time GP winners list, ahead are Joel Robert (50 wins), Joel Smets (57 wins) and Stefan Everts (101 wins). He won’t catch Robert this year and he might never catch Smets, but anything is possible in this sport and with a little luck and a few extra years on the Grand Prix series and the Italian legend will have every chance to move into second place behind Everts.

We caught up with Antonio after his win and asked him about the weekend, the future and his rivals.

MXlarge: Antonio, can you explain your weekend for me?

Cairoli: It was an awesome weekend, I was always first, in practice and also pre-qualification, in the heat race and then in warm-up and also the two motos. It’s an awesome track and when it gets rough like this I feel much better. The track wasn’t as nice as last year, this year we had sharp bumps, but still it’s always nice here. At least there are many lines, compared to other tracks.

MXlarge: You had a lot of pressure from both Bobryshev and Frossard in that first race. Do you enjoy that type of situation?

Cairoli: It’s good, for me it’s good, they are getting between myself and Desalle, so for sure it’s good for the Championship. I wish there were more guys, it’s always good. You know I don’t care about the pressure from the other people, if they are fast they are fast, it doesn’t bother me. If they are faster then they deserve to win the race. I know with Frossard he is a clean rider and I like to race against him, so he isn’t a problem.

MXlarge: You have a 42 point lead in the Championship with five rounds to go, Lommel, Loket, Matterley Basin, Gaildorf and Fermo. Can you start to look at the Championship and prepare for a celebration in Italy?

Cairoli: Not yet, it’s still really a long way until the Championship is over, and I just want to get as many points as possible and the next Grand Prix is in the sand, so I can do my best there and try and earn some more points. It’s still a long Championship so I just focus on each Grand Prix.

MXlarge: With Clement getting injured and he isn’t riding so well at the moment, compared to before his injury. Are you surprised he has lost so much ground on you?

Cairoli: I know he is going to be fast and I like him as a rider, he puts a lot of passion and aggression as a rider, but he is still pretty young and the mental is important in this sport and every time we ride together he tries to make me nervous, but I don’t care, I just want to have good racing and try and do my best.

MXlarge: And next up it is Lommel, maybe the circuit where you ride better than any other. How much do you look forward to going there?

Cairoli: I like Lommel, it’s cool, it is my second home Grand Prix and I have lived there since 2004 and I have a lot of fans in Belgium and Holland, also a lot of friends there. I am just so happy to go to the sand because it is really tough and I like it when it’s like that.

MXlarge: And you now have 40 GP wins, which is pretty impressive.

Cairoli: Yes, 40 GP wins, it’s amazing, I am writing some good pages to history and its fun and I am so glad to be on this level.