Home to one of the most spectacular venues on the calendar, the fourth round of MXGP that took place at the foot of the saw-toothed Dolomite mountains in Pietramurata, Italy, did not fail to deliver!

Adding a vibrant twist to the already stunning landscape, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP and MX2 teams rocked up to the Grand Prix decked out in Yamaha’s iconic white and pink anniversary livery.

Inspired by the 1993 YZs, the eye-catching design celebrating 50 years of Yamaha’s championship-winning YZ brought a burst of energy and camaraderie to the paddock. “Only real men wear pink!” Calvin Vlaanderen smiled. “You look like a Barbie, a really beautiful Barbie, though,” his trainer joked. Throughout the weekend, the uplifting effect of the retro livery was undeniable.

Thriving in the loud and energetic atmosphere typical of an Italian Grand Prix, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s own Italian stallion, Andrea Bonacorsi, took everyone by surprise. “You see! You were thinking I was not fast! But I come, eh? Don’t worry, eh! Be happy!” Andrea grinned. While ‘Bona’, the reigning EMX250 Champion and one of MX2’s most exciting young rookies, showed what he is capable of with an epic third-place finish in Race Two, the biggest relief was for his teammate Thibault Benistant.

As a rider that has been pegged as a title contender, Thibault finally uncorked his first bottle of prosecco in 2024 after putting his YZ250FM on the box! “Finally! I had to wait too long for this one,” the French star said. “Actually, I can be happy, because I didn’t ride that good today. I was quite tight, so to be on the podium with such crap riding, was not too bad.”

In between the talk of all things Italian, such as pizza, prosecco and ‘dragons of the night’, Calvin Vlaanderen was FAST! “I felt so good this weekend,” the South African said, “I was P1 in Free Practice, P3 in Time Practice, but crashed in the qualifying race. I cross-jumped the triple, landed off the track and went down, so I had to come from last to P7, which was actually quite good.”

Calvin finished sixth after another average start in Race One but bounced back in Race Two with a lively start followed by a hard-fought second-place finish. He missed the podium by a mere 3 points! “Race Two was fun,” he said, “I really enjoyed running up front with the guys. At one point, I could see Jeremy (Seewer) coming, so I just focused on putting in two or three good laps, and then I saw I had a 3-second gap on him, so I was super happy with that. I just kept my focus ahead on (Jorge) Prado, to see if I can keep the pace, and we managed that. It was nice!”

The MXGP of Trentino brought together adrenaline-pumping action, colourful team spirit, and a glimpse of how fast the Yamaha riders really are. With its stunning location and some incredible moments, this round was one for the memory bank.