Prado heads home to Spain

There is no doubt, the greatest Spanish motocross rider of all time is current sensation Jorge Prado. The 19-year-old MXGP rookie already has a Grand Prix victory to his name in 2020 and added that MXGP win to his 31 MX2 overall victories. A two-time World MX2 champion everyone knew when Prado entered the big bike class, he would be a success and he hasn’t disappointed.

Having suffered from injuries in the pre-season, the Spaniard came into the series a little brittle, and his fourth place in the MXGP championship points isn’t really an indication of where he should be and where he is going.

Since the series started in England Prado has amassed 341 points, but nobody denies he could easily catch the three men above him in the championship points if he gets a run of victories. Last weekend at the Mantova circuit in Italy he didn’t have it all his own way, as a 3-17 performance slowed his progress a little.

“The day started quite good,” Prado said. “I gave myself some work when I stalled the bike; five guys passed me and I had to get them back to finally finish 3rd, which was OK. I felt good but we changed a couple of things for the second race and on the sighting lap I thought ‘this is my race’ because I was feeling fit, recovered and that the bike was better.”

While that third-place finish in the opening race gave him huge confidence, a crash in the second race completely destroyed his weekend, and now the teenager will go to his home Grand Prix in Spain with a lot to prove once again.

“I had a perfect jump out of the gate and Tim [Gajser] passed me. I was close but his roost blinded me for a moment, and I could not see an edge on the berm coming out of the chicane. I hit it with my back wheel, and it sent me sideways. I banged my hip on the bar and also my head on the ground. I was last when I stood up and tried to restart. There was a problem with the front wheel because it was locking a bit on some jumps and also in some corners. The front brake was damaged as well so I could not use it. So, the rest of the race was really difficult. I did what I could, and I actually don’t know where I finished! We’ll heal-up this week and try to be ready for Spain.”

No doubt, racing at home will give Prado a great feeling and maybe even extra confidence. There is no doubt he can still be the 2020 World MXGP champion, but again, he will need to put together two solid races in Spain and take that momentum to Lommel, Belgium a week later for the triple Grand Prix in the deep sand.