All three riders were fast in the final Qualifying Practice of 2020. Seewer posted a 1:41.206 for second position, ahead of his teammate Tonus who posted a 1:42.570 for third. Paulin tailed the Swiss riders and finished the session in fourth with a 1:43.159.
When the gates dropped for Race 1, Tonus and Seewer rocketed out of the gate and made up the top-four on the exit of turn-one. Paulin was squeezed back to eighth but made some quick moves to take over sixth position before the end of the first lap.
Again, there was not a lot separating the top riders as they navigated the one-lined course like slot cars, except for Tim Gajser and Romain Febvre, who ran away with the top two positions.
Seewer eventually won a 20-minute long cat and mouse battle with his teammate, Tonus. The ‘91’ scrubbed past the number ‘4’ with 10 minutes left on the clock. Paulin followed suit a lap later and stole a position from the Swiss star.
Running the same pace wheel-to-wheel, Seewer crossed the line in third, while Paulin and Tonus finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
An incredible start to the final race of the 2020 season saw Seewer and Paulin briefly lead the way. Both riders were strong but they could not match the speed of Gajser and Febvre today and were left to battle for third position.
After extending his Grand Prix race win tally to 22 at the MXGP of Lommel less than two weeks ago, Gautier Paulin announced on Thursday 29th of October that he would retire from racing after this week’s triple-header at the Ciclamino circuit in Pietramurata. As a rider that is fully focused on being the absolute best rider he can be, it came as no surprise the ‘21’ found a little bit of extra speed to pass Seewer for third overall in the final race of his career.
With the Championship in mind, Seewer was aware that he had defeated his closest rival and was happy to settle for fourth, while Tonus had to fight hard to finish ninth after he was bumped off the track at the start.
Seewer managed to secure second overall in the final MXGP World Championship Classification.
Since making his Grand Prix debut back in 2007, Paulin has impressively uncorked 60 bottles of podium champagne. He has also celebrated 22 race wins and 12 Grands Prix victories during his 13-year career. The 30-year-old Frenchman ends his final year fifth overall in the Championship Classification. Tonus was 17th.
For full results from the MXGP of Garda-Trentino, click here.
