The Red Bull Teka KTM factory team is in its final stages of preparing for the 2011 Motocross World Championship season, with world champion Antonio Cairoli racing to victory in the Italian championship last weekend.

Despite suffering from a flu, Cairoli won round three of the Italian titles at Cingoli, scoring a 3-1 result on the challenging track aboard the 350 SX-F.

“It was a tough weekend because I was a little bit sick so I just went out and tried to do my best,” Cairoli said. “I managed to get the holeshot in the first race but then I got tired and couldn’t push so I just defended third place.

“I felt a little better in the second race and I was happy to get that win. Now I need to get two wins in the final round of the championship next weekend. It will be tough but I will try to do it.”

Teammate Max Nagl finished with a 5-7 score for the day and said that although the results were not what he hoped, he was still happy with his riding.

“It was very tough race and the mud was heavy but my riding was good, I didn’t get tired and I can push on the 350,” Nagl said. “The first race was okay but I had a problem at the start of the second. Then I crashed in the first corner and was last in the field.

“I managed to fight my way back to finish seventh so in those conditions it was quite okay.”

Cairoli now assumes control of the overall standings in the competition with one round to go this weekend. Max is sixth in the overall standings after having a DNF in the last outing in Faenza during the week.

Meanwhile, Dutch teenager Jeffrey Herlings was on top of his game in the Dutch Championship round at Halle winning both MX2 motos by a massive margin of 30 seconds and 40 seconds respectively.

Second in both races was factory teammate Jeremy van Horebeek of Belgium showing both these riders are itching to get down to business in the MX2 World Championship.

“Everything was perfect today. The track was great. It was fun to ride and I won both motos,” Herlings said.

Jeremy van Horebeek was also positive after his two second places on the typical Dutch sand track.

“I am not really a specialist on the sand but I have been training with Stefan Everts on the sand in the winter and this result has helped to give me confidence,” he explained. “I want to try to get one more race in before the start of the GP season son I can continue to get my rhythm.”

The 2011 grand prix series commences at Bulgaria on 10 April.