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You make a good point. As a fan of the sport it is frustrating but entertaining to watch and has given me something to talk about. For him though, I would assume it is all his worst fears coming true. Failure at anything is always terrifying and only spirals until you find a way to build some confidence back. This is the first time I’ve thought about it from his perspective and now I kinda feel bad for him. Could he handle it better yes, but it’s gotta be really loud in his head right now with everything happening.
You're acting like he took this big gamble, and he was hard done by. He signed a multi million three year deal. Injuries happen, crashes happen, I'd never hold that against a guy.
What people will remember though is him giving up mid moto several times, while insinuating that he should and would be winning on another bike. It will also be remembered that he deliberately tried to not qualify for the last round of the season, which is about as unacceptable as it gets.
Sure, there are always two sides to every situation. And sure, Kawasaki may not have done EVERYTHING they could to make Jorge happy. But the bottom line is, they don't have to! Kawasaki employs Jorge, not the other way around. He blatantly gave very little effort and did not comply with the contract he entered into with his employer. It's not all that different than the rest of us starting a new job. If I only worked 4 out of 8 hours everyday and gave 50% effort because I didn't like the job and it wasn't what I expected, it wouldn't end well for me. I mean, how "unsafe" could the bike really be? So unsafe that you roll around at half-throttle, looking around and watching P-17 fly by you on a stock-ish bike?? I was rooting for Jorge and was looking forward to another "top" guy being over here, but that ship has sailed. I don't even care if Kawasaki was impossible to work with and wouldn't budge on setup or making changes, it doesn't justify his behavior and actions. None of us are perfect, and we don't always do the right thing, but the consistent lack of effort, disrespect of his employer paying him millions of dollars, and purposely sabotaging qualifying are inexcusable.
... apparently they have been doing that all year...
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Money. Bikes are not cheap. Mechanics are not cheap. Travel is not cheap. Even if it was a bonus only, no salary gig- it would cost them ~$200k
Guys like aees will absolutely blame the bike, but this time the narrative will be the production bike sucks and he needs his works bike. I have no idea how he'll perform (if he even stays in the US), but there is definite downside for KTM.
I can't imagine Roger witnessing Budds Creek and still being okay with that guy on the team.
Be interesting to see what his contract stipulates as far as the motorcycle provided to him. Let's say Kawi decides to only give him a stocker, does that mean they violate it by not providing him with a works bike? And if they just sit him down for insubordination, but keep paying him, then he wouldn't be allowed to ride another brand at all without violating the contract. So there's something to be dealt with on both sides. I'm imagining the lawyers are talking as we speak....,
A farewell to Prado:
Jorge Prado, the champ from Spain,
Came to the States with dreams to reign.
On his new bike, he roared with pride,
But his attempt at AMA, became one pathetic ride.
With Kawasaki green, he thought he’d fly,
Right past the leaderboard, beneath the sky.
But every race he’d fade, or drop a heavy anchor,
And then blame his bike for it, oh what a rancor!
He’d rev the throttle, then spin and slide,
While pointing fingers, his ego wide.
“It’s not my skill, it’s this damn machine!”
He wailed and wailed, as fans laughed and screamed.
At High Point he was seventeenth, oh oh my!
Getting gapped by the leaders, he’d nearly cry.
“The shocks are junk, the brakes are shot!”
But Jorge, mate, it is you who’s not!
He dreamed of podiums, with gold to seize,
But instead he got lapped, with such unease.
“The gears are stuck, the engine’s slow!”
But it was the pace of the AMA, George did not know.
The crowd would chuckle, the commentators grin,
“Take responsibility Jorge, and don’t fault the spin!”
Your starts were fine, but your speed wasn’t was there,
So stop the whining, it won’t get you anywhere!
From Monster Energy, they gave him a steed,
A bike that champs would surely need.
Yet Jorge would curse, and kick the dust,
“This Kawasaki, is a pile of rust!”
He’d sulk in the pits, with a scowl so grim,
After privateers like Harrison, blew by him.
“New continent, new tracks, and a whole new bike!”
But it was the Hunter Brother’s speed, Jorge did not like.
Oh Jorge, you champion, your talent’s clear,
Two world titles, you’ve got nothing to fear!
So ditch the excuses, and take the wheel,
Stop throwing jabs at Kawi, and keep it real.
So here’s to Prado, the Spanish star,
Who came to the States but didn’t get far.
Next time, young lad, just ride your steed,
And don’t making excuses, for your lack of speed.
Question for @ML512 &/or @LewisPhillips
After the cruising around IG post which Kawasaki's motor guy and others responded to, could there have been an internal mutiny at Kawi where staff no longer wanted to work with Jorge and if so, was it a factor in him sitting out?
Whens deegan race?
And yet he was the best placed kawi at mx and smx.
or maybe they will be announcing him as their new test development rider on those new Kawaski 2 Strokes "coming soon"
Yeah so what's your point?...He quit on the team...that's the issue most have...
I’m also on Prado’s side.
He truly believes it’s a bike issue.
He even turned down a great deal of money.
Sometimes factory teams actually do a worse job setting up the bikes.
Even Cianciarulo could only make the bike work for a couple of laps.
Adam never raced on anything other than Kawasaki, so he thought it was on him.
So you think he handled it properly by complaining on social media and trying not to qualify on purpose?
He’s made a lifelong fan out of me. A lifelong fan of any/every rider that beats him.
Only thing I can think of that is holding up this divorce is maybe Kawasaki is wanting to recoup some of a signing bonus of some sort. Nothing else makes sense from a PR stand point.
It's pretty interesting to me that this guy has basically backed himself into a "must" situation. The ONLY option going forward is to do well, whether the next bike sucks or not... That's a ton of pressure. Think about it, what if he doesn't feel quite at home back on orange? He's still going to have to go fast and risk it. If he doesn't, the future begins to look pretty murky.
And a lot of folks will still think he's an asshole regardless.
He really could have handled all of this so much better. I'd almost compare him to Reed as far as being picky or demanding of his team (and I was always a Reed fan), but there's no way Chad would have tried to quit a race. Also, generally, whether or not Jorge has put forth a good faith effort to make the bike better and be a team player, it just doesn't feel that way. He's either genuinely terrible at communicating, or a prima donna. Maybe both.
Pit Row
I try not to get too opinioned on this sort of stuff, but I definitely look at Prado in a different light after this season.
It takes SO much for a race team to go racing, and he dismissed all of that and selfishly focused on his discomfort on the machine. He wasn't having mechanicals, his checks weren't bouncing.
The truck driver got the truck to the races, bought the food, cooked the food, made sure the environment is right. The mechanic worked countless hours every week to make sure the bike was mechanically sound, again with no issues. The team uprooted and spent weeks on end at Club to help. I could go on about everything that has to go right to go racing at that level.
And publicly, he just shit on them. The guys that were getting shit on continued to swallow their pride, and continued to work toward getting him happy.
Really poor character, IMO.
Again, if he truly believes it’s the bike or the team holding him back, why should he be the only one to take all the blame?
I actualky think he’s a stand-up guy. He could probably have faked an injury and stayed another year, and cashed in.
But instead he turned down a lot of money to prove his point.
I think I’m mainly just happy that it is done and both Prado and Kawasaki can move forward. No matter who is wrong, the rider is the one putting their body on the line. If they are not in it 100%, the risk is just too high imo. It sucks for the team.
That was so beautiful… Until you forgot about the quitting part!!!
What a delightful display of humanity this thread is.
42-42 in qualifying is stand up as heck.
Imagine Star Yamaha gave me their 450 this year and I won both the SX and MX titles.
It’s fun to imagine!
Easily too since that happened a year before motodrive transferred over 😉
It’s somewhat curious that we’ve heard absolutely zero from Kawasaki on this whole matter so far. I get that sometimes it’s better to say nothing especially if you believe it might be headed toward legal proceedings and that may be the case here.
Nonetheless it’s possible that some set of circumstances has led Prado to behave the way he did. I’m not defending his behaviour necessarily but I’m trying to look beyond what we can see. Mostly people don’t resort to extreme behaviour without some genuine cause or reason. It’s possible that he’s just being infantile but it’s also possible that he’s tried every other reasonable avenue to the bike where he wants and Kawi haven’t delivered.
I've heard about his motor guy making a post and having to delete it, but did any screenshots survive? Or cliffnotes? I've yet to see it anywhere.
Good grief. He finished sixth in races he tried, which is respectable. But to purposely try not to qualify? Shaming your employer, team, fans, and the World championship title you carry, what an entitled asshole. He had an entire team of lawyers, advisors, mananagers, family, and friends guiding him before he signed to come race AMA and race Kawi, it is not like people conspired to make him fail. He chose this path.
"kawasaki motor guy prado comment" should net some results on Google. I can't remember if it was just the one comment, or a couple.
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