Wearing it well
FIM Motocross World Champion and current supremo of the sport outside of the USA, Red Bull KTM’s Tony Cairoli, can normally be spotted around the track thanks to his day-glo boots, lid and goggles. We checked in with the Sicilian to see if there was anything special about his race gear…
Boots: “I have always been with Sidi and we are together for almost ten years now. I am in contact with the factory quite a lot and they always like to make cool stuff for me. I always ask for something a bit different from everybody else and then later on they are able to sell that same product. I get a lot of people on Twitter asking where they can buy boots like mine and I think we’ll see the yellow ones out next year. The yellow makes me stand out but also ties in with my new goggle brand and then also my helmet. It all matches up and makes me more recognisable on the bike. I use a standard boot. A lot of riders have special modifications but mine is straight out of the box.”
Pants and Shirt: “I use Donjoy knee braces and then over the top the Axo gear is the same that you can buy in the shops. We started working on my personal range a little bit in 2012 – the 222 line – and it is cool to do something like that with an Italian brand like Axo that is getting stronger after some quiet years. I like to help them design cool gear and I have a lot of say in how it looks now. Last year not so much, but for the 2013 championship I said what I wanted and the only restriction was the placement of some logos that had to be fixed. I like modern designs and the gear should look really clear. I don’t like ‘busy’ stuff. It is cleaner in 2013 compared to last year. I wear a t-shirt or vest under the race shirt but I’m not fussy about colours or anything like that. I tried a cooling vest in Thailand in March when it was so hot and it worked quite well but I’m a rider that doesn’t suffer too much in the high temperatures.”
Gloves: “I don’t really like new gloves. I wash quite a lot! I can easily do three Grands Prix with one set. New ones just don’t feel so comfortable.”
Neck: “I used to wear a neck brace and I think they are useful in some ways but not in others. I can see positive parts to using them but it has been a personal preference for a while now not to take one.”
Goggles: “Neox is a new product and before we launch it I am testing a lot of different stuff all the time. It is working very well and we are still developing the roll-off system but I’m very happy with the tear-offs and the lens quality. We still have some stuff to evolve but I think by the end of the season, maybe the Nations, we will be ready to present them.”
Helmet: “I’ve been with Airoh for a long time. I don’t use a prototype but I give development advice for the inside foams and ventilation performance and goggle position. We’re actually waiting for a new one now that we have been testing and developing. We had two special helmets for Maggiora.”
