The Italian De Carli Yamaha team is one of Yamaha’s most competent outfits in the MX2 World Championship and their track record in the class with Antonio Cairoli mean that they are also one of the premier squads in the Grand Prix paddock.

Created and helmed by former 500cc racer Claudio De Carli, the team laid its roots in 1995 and has since become renowned for developing and assisting young talent from Italy, providing a rare channel for promising motocross racers to sample their speed at the highest level. 

Fielding Claudio Federici in the 1995 125cc World Championship provided the team with the first of many memorable moments in the last decade as the 20 year old won his home Grand Prix at Castiglione del Lago and only an injury prevented him from rising higher than 6th in the final classification. The arrival of Alessio Chiodi in 1997 meant a resumption of winning habits and most importantly the team’s definitive breakthrough with their first 125 Motocross world title. Federici’s return to the team in 1999 almost delivered another world title as the Roman clinched ten motos and three Grand Prix wins on the way to runner-up position in the series. As the end of the millennium drew near De Carli had also been fielding promising new Italian riders such as Erik Camerlengo, Luca Cherubini and Alex Zanni.

2000 saw De Carli working with the YZ250 for the first time as Federici headed into the blue ribbon class and picked up wins both in Slovakia and then Switzerland the following year, finishing in the top five of the 2000 and 2001 classifications. In 2002 Chiodi and Federici joined forces on the 250 two-stroke, while the infrastructure of the team was further professionalized.
2003 witnessed the introduction of four-stroke machinery to the World Championships as the ‘MXGP’ class became the fore-runner to MX1. De Carli embraced the new four stroke YZ250F (Chiodi) and YZ450F (Federici). Despite a promising start on the 250, a broken arm for Chiodi ruined his plight, while Federici needed time to get up to speed after a long absence due to a knee injury. A podium at the team’s home GP was one of the few season highlights.

The 2004 season introduced the MX1 and MX2 race format and saw De Carli concentrate solely on MX2 competition. This season witnessed the breakthrough of Antonio Cairoli who was recommended to De Carli by Federici. The skinny teenager would set the contest alight with his flamboyant speed, rocket starts and unflinching nerve, taking a moto win and a Grand Prix triumph for third spot overall. Federici would win the Italian championship for the team in that year. To further empower their riders and become stronger in World Championship racing the team established a base in Belgium to be able to train on the heavy sand tracks that for part of the World Championship calendar. From this point onwards De Carli would become one of the principal crews on the world stage, but at the same time the team maintained their commitment to youth too by giving Manuel Monni his first GP steps in 2004.

Cairoli’s year arrived in 2005 as further development with the YZ250F and more experience from the young Sicilian forged an all-conquering combination. The World Championship was earned with thirteen moto victories and six Grand Prix wins for the squad’s finest campaign to-date

A thorough defence was enacted in 2006. But Cairoli had to nurse an injured wrist and two DNFs proved very costly as he ran Christophe Pourcel all the way to the last of the sixteen rounds championship. Cairoli won no less then 12 motos and ruled over the last GP in dominant style, but he still could not retain his number one plate and had to settle for a vice-championship. Matteo Bonini came onboard as a second rider but a broken arm wrecked his season before it even started, for 2007 he will get a new change to show what he is made of.

With a reputation for professionalism, acute skill in terms of machine set-up and proving a loyal and important breeding ground for Italian Motocross, De Carli’s status is well-earned and recognised at the sharp end of the sport.