Review: The Tony Cairoli Movie

Transmoto’s Jackson Reardon took the time to review Tony Cairoli: The Movie – an in-depth documentary that details the World Champion’s rise to the top.

Tony Cairoli: The Movie is a moto film that goes off the beaten track of four-minute segments covering different riders and areas of the world, and takes an in-depth view at what it takes to become an eight-time World Champion in the MXGP series.

The film kicks off at the very beginning of the story, covering Tony’s first experience on a bike. Hailing from Sicily, a large island just off the south of Italy’s mainland, Tony grew up in a family that was far from wealthy. His parents battled to get Antonio to the races as a Junior, as the cost of bikes and the travel threatened to finish his career before it had even begun. An opportunity with the Tiscali Honda team, managed by Paolo Martin, gave Tony the chance to pursue his dream. However, the first year showed few signs of his talent, as Cairoli experienced mixed results in 2002 and 2003.

An off-season switch to the Yamaha team provided Antonio with the platform he needed, and in his first full season in MX2 he would finish third Overall, winning his first GP in Namur. The following year Tony would win six out of 17 rounds, and take home the championship. He would win one more MX2 title in the next three years, before taking the 2009 MX1 championship in his first attempt; the rest as they say, is history.

The film presents an interesting combination of interviews from influential figures in Tony’s life, Tony himself, and a combination of past event footage and recently filmed riding footage on his KTM.

Footage taken at the Lommel track in Belgium of Cairoli in training recently on his KTM only reinforces the track’s standing worldwide. It surely has to be one of the toughest motocross circuits in the world, whilst also being beautifully picturesque. The only downside to these flashes of footage was that there were not enough of them; I wanted to watch Cairoli carve lines around the circuit for minutes, yet was only given a few short glances of action.

The movie however, achieves what it is set out to do. It tells the wonderful triumph of Antonio Cairoli, already one of the greatest riders of all time, in an informative, interesting manner. Although at times I wished for more action, the movie perfectly depicts just how tough it was for Cairoli to make it to the professional level, and left me amazed at the determination and talent of the man.

As perhaps the most anticipated MXGP season of all time is being battled out (with Villopoto hopefully soon to return and make the impact we all expected) this film is not to be missed, and any true moto fan will be hooked from beginning to end.

Grab a copy at your local Bikes & Bits Importers dealer today. Click here to find your nearest location.