Tony Cairoli, second life begins with a new role

Tony Cairoli’s words

Tony Cairoli is the new team manager of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

The nine-time world champion, who retired like Valentino Rossi last season, will work alongside former multiple world champion Joel Smets, who will be in charge of training and coaching a selection of riders from the factory team as well as other riders in the group.

“2022 was a change for me, now this is another chapter,” Cairoli says in the KTM press release. “It was good to race again this year, but it was also good to take a small step back from racing and see things differently. I really hope I can bring all the knowledge and passion I can to this new role. I’ll have to learn a little bit, but I’ve also worked with some amazing people in my career, so I expect to put that experience to good use. We are already thinking about our goals for 2023.”