Reigning MX1 Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli suffered a disastrous opening round of this year’s grand prix series in Bulgaria, finishing ninth overall after sustaining a knee injury in moto one.

The Italian said he was disappointed about the result of the first races of the season, but given that he had twisted his knee in race one, he was relieved that the injury wasn’t more serious.

“The start is very important here in Bulgaria because it is difficult to pass on this track,” he reflected. “It was not so bad for me yesterday but today I had a very bad start in the first moto.

“I tried to pass as many as possible and I was up to about fifth then I hit my knee trying to pass [Rui] Goncalves. It’s the same knee that I broke so I was quite worried. It was hurting a lot and I gave up a bit and finished seventh.

“Then I made an appointment to see the doctor and it started to feel better so I was able to race again in the second moto. My start was better and I almost got the holeshot, I think I was third in the first corner.

“Then [David] Philippaerts crashed in front of me and I couldn’t avoid him and found I was back at 20 or 21 in the field. I scrambled back to 10th and tried to move up to ninth in the last lap, but I didn’t manage it.”

Red Bull KTM boss Stefan Everts is certain that Cairoli will rebound in rounds to come.

“We expect Tony to be winning of course,” he said. “Yesterday he had a good qualifying race and a good speed. But today he hurt his knee and I’m happy he could finish the race and take some points. For sure he will come back strong.”