Fresh from a two weekend hiatus, round 15 of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place on the picturesque sand-like circuit of Mantova, Italy, Saturday.

On conditions that are vastly different from previous rounds with no support classes racing this weekend, it was Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl and Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie who won their respective heat races.

As the sun started to dip over the track which turned out to be a lot firmer than what was expected, the first turn was owned by the guys in red with 24MX Honda’s Filip Bengtsson leading Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev, fellow 24MX Honda rider Christophe Charlier and Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin.

The only rider to break up the red parade was Nagl who went on to make a meal out of everyone for his second qualifying race victory of the season.

In the initial stages of the race, Bengtsson led the way with both Bobryshev and Charlier all over him. While pushing to make a pass for the lead Bobryshev got a little too throttle happy and slid out. He managed to remount but then binned it again half a lap later and only came home in sixth.

Meanwhile Nagl, who was a solid bet for the championship before breaking his leg at round 10 and is still the longest holder of the red plate this year, only got stronger as the race went on and eventually made light work of the 24MX lads to take the lead and pull away for pole.

Around the halfway mark, Bengtsson started to fade which saw both Charlier and Paulin go through. Paulin eventually found the legs to get around fellow Frenchman Charlier as Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre started to emerge.

While Febvre was buried most of the race, he was still absolutely bossing it out there with some unique lines which saw him nail the fastest lap.

Two laps to go and Febvre passed Charlier for third and went after his closest championship rival Paulin. Unfortunately the red plate holder, Febvre ran out of time and was forced to be content with third.

It turned out to be an awesome day in the office for Charlier and Bengtsson who both put in solid performances for their best qualifying race finishes of the season, fourth and fifth.

Aussie Dean Ferris had a strong qualification in 10th position, two positions ahead of fellow Husqvarna-mounted countryman Todd Waters.

When the gates dropped in MX2 it was Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer who claimed the holeshot ahead of Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod and Anstie, beating the carnage which saw Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s duo of Thomas Covington and Petar Petrov go down in a heap.

Guillod was back to his usual self and stylishly started peeling off fast laps. He put the pass on Seewer almost immediately and led most of the race.

Meanwhile Seewer did a great job at keeping him honest but had more to worry about with Anstie hard on his heels for second. As Anstie found his flow and switched up his lines a little bit, he dialed an outside to inside combo in the center of the circuit, which he used to pass Seewer and then put the same move on Guillod a few laps later.

Guillod wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight and half a lap later dragged by Anstie past pitlane to regain the lead. Another half of a lap in and Guillod jumped short through the rhythm section, which allowed Anstie to triple out for the take back.

This time around, and with only two laps to go, Guillod let him go and dropped off the pace slightly which allowed Seewer to close in.

Seewer, who was looking really comfortable, pushed Guillod all the way home but couldn’t make a pass stick. The red plate holder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass ended up finishing fourth after an impressive charge from around 10th while Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Harri Kullas rounded out the top five.

As for the defending MX2 world champion Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jordi Tixier, he opted not to race after being shaken up by a crash in Timed Practice.

Click here for detailed results