An enthralling start to the MXGP of Italy saw Seewer and Paulin place their YZ450FMs inside the top-10 off the gate. Paulin was initially the best placed of the pair but was shuffled back to ninth in the fast-paced drama of the opening lap, as Seewer put himself in contention for a maiden race victory.
With a first-ever race win in sight, Seewer threw everything at the front runners for the entire 30 minute + 2 Lap duration of the race. With 3-Laps to go, the ‘91’ managed to make an impressive pass on the nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli for third before inheriting second position from a fallen Jorge Prado.
Cairoli attempted a last-lap come-back, but Seewer was too strong and maintained second position all the way to the flag. In the shadow of the edge-of-your-seat battle for the lead, Paulin rode a smooth and consistent pace for all 17-Laps to finish fifth.
With temperatures soaring well above 30 degrees Celsius, Seewer got off to a blazing hot top-three start as Paulin diced his way through the field to complete the opening lap of the final race in fourth position.
Remaining within an inch of Prado and Jeffrey Herlings, the pulse-raising thrills of race one continued well into Race 2 as Seewer chased the eventual Grand Prix winner, Herlings, home for another second place finish.
While putting in some fast laps with the leaders in sight, Paulin washed his front-wheel under brakes into a right-hand turn, caught his foot on a bank and was thrown spectacularly from his motorcycle. The Frenchman made an impressive remount after such a gigantic crash where his bike ended up stuck in the fence, and put in a spirited ride for 11th.
After setting the fifth-fastest time in Qualifying Practice, Arnaud Tonus’ day was spoiled by lackluster starts, crashes and bad-luck. He was 16th in Race 1 and crashed out of Race 2. He was classified 21st overall.
As the runner-up in both races, Seewer finished second overall for the second time this season and has moved up into fifth position in the MXGP World Championship Classification.
Paulin was ninth overall for the day, a result that does not reflect his speed around the Italian circuit and has been nudged back to seventh in the championship chase.
The next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place here in Faenza, Italy, in two-days’ time, on September 9th.
