With an ambient temperature of 35 degree's Celcius, the Italian Grand Prix was a tough test of both man and machine. In the opening race, the YZ450F mounted riders provided much of the entertainment with all four stars going bar-to-bar for a place inside the top-three. Off the gate, it was Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP duo of Arnaud Tonus and Gautier Paulin that led the way around turn one while Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP's duo of Jeremy Seewer and Romain Febvre made up the top-ten.
Paulin passed his teammate on the opening lap and led for three laps before the eventual race winner Glenn Coldenhoff made a pass stick. Tonus was forced back to eighth after colliding with the newly crowned champion Tim Gajser on Lap-8, while Seewer and Febvre were incredible on their surge up into the top-five.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Seewer and Febvre found a way past Paulin but moments later Febvre hit a sharp edge on a fast downhill and was thrown spectacularly from his motorcycle.
As a result of Febvre's misfortune, Paulin and Tonus moved up one position each. At the checkered flag they were 4-seconds adrift of Seewer in third and fourth, while Febvre put in a brave performance to salvage 11th.
In the final race of the weekend, Seewer got off to a much better start as he chased Coldenhoff and Tommy Searle around turn-one. The '91' was quick to advance to second position as Paulin, Febvre and Tonus rounded out the top-11.
Misfortune struck when Tonus missed his line on Lap-2 and fell back to 20th as Paulin and Febvre put chase to Pauls Jonass in fourth. After a race-long battle with Jonass, Paulin eventually forced his way up the inside of the Latvian on Lap-14 to steal the position, as Febvre backed off the pace after snagging his radiator on the edge of a deep rut.
Seewer was forced back to third by Gajser on Lap-10 and was in danger of losing the position to Paulin in the final throws. Despite a last-ditch effort to catch Seewer, the '21' lost vital time on the final lap when he landed short on the uphill triple. He had to settle for fourth, and fourth overall.
Seewer finished third, which was enough to secure a place on the second step of the podium. Febvre finished sixth for seventh overall, while Tonus fought back to 16th for ninth overall.
Inching closer to wrapping up the 2019 MXGP World Championship as the vice World Champion, Seewer will carry a 41-point advantage over Paulin into the next round which will take place in five-days time, on the weekend of August 26th in Uddevalla, Sweden.
