Jorge Prado on His First Supercross Race with Kawasaki | Vital MX Interview 5

PostRace

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jorge Prado off-season was marred with injuries but Anaheim 1 posed some major positives for the young Spaniard. Learn more about his evening here.

Scroll down for the written transcription of this interview.

Lewis Phillips:  It wasn't an easy off-season for you, and you had some setbacks. So, I wasn't expecting much this weekend, but it was great. You were very fast and have the ability to battle for podiums here shortly. I think the biggest challenge will be not getting ahead of yourself too quickly. How do you assess it?

Jorge Prado: I didn't expect a night like this at all. Everything went much better than expected. This is my fourth week on the bike, so I think I'm in a good spot for only three weeks and three days of riding. We put a lot of work in these last weeks with the team to get things as ready as we could for Anaheim. I felt good on press day, and it was a great Heat race. I mean, second, it was crazy. I had a great pace and felt good. I also led some laps in the main event. I couldn't ask for more. That crash was a pity and not the greatest feeling, but it was way better than when riding at the test tracks lately. 

Lewis Phillips: Were you surprised more guys didn't get to you in the heat race? Once you were settled into second, were you waiting for the guys to catch you and were like, "Oh, I guess I'm ok here?"

Prado: I was more worried about Sexton than the guys behind me. The last two laps, I thought, "I don't want to throw this away. We're in a good spot, and I don't want to crash or anything." It was so good, and I'm very happy with my performance. We can still get so much better.

Lewis Phillip: Going back to the off-season, there was that one crash where everyone thought you had a broken wrist, but you didn't. When did the other one happen? Was it when you first got here?

Prado: I got here after des Nations, and we tried to do some testing. Then I had my holidays. After that, on my second day on the bike, I had a little crash in the corner, but my hand got stuck under my handlebars. I broke my pinky. I was off for about two weeks, and as soon as I got back, I crashed again. So, I missed over a month because of those little injuries. I was doing my physical training, but not on the bike. That's why I felt good with my body today, which is very important. There wasn't enough riding at the test track, and because of that, there wasn't enough testing. We had to do a lot of laps to make me feel comfortable riding Supercross because it's new to me. People may think, "He raced here last year," but my preparation was almost nothing. It was only for four rounds, and two were in muddy conditions. This is a whole new experience. I'm very impressed with the team as well. They've been working hard, and we have a very good bike. Maybe I didn't feel the best with the bike today, but we are not far away. If I hadn't felt good about the bike, I wouldn't have been in the top two in the heat race or led laps in the main event. So, we're in a good spot, and I'll keep working with the team as I'm getting better, and we will soon be in a much better spot. I don't need to rush it.

Lewis Phillips: Your starts are still good. Did you have to do a lot of work on the bike to make the Kawasaki work for you out of the gate? I know you had an aggressive motor package with GasGas.

Prado: This is a little different, but my bike is good. You could see I almost holeshot in the heat race and then holeshot in the main. Were you worried about my starts?

Lewis Phillips: People were worried. A lot of MXGP riders messaged me and said how it would be interesting to see if the starts continue.

Prado: I've been starting first all my life, not because of the bike.

Lewis Phillips: I think people realize that now.

Prado: I have a great team that is working hard to make me feel good for the start. Jason (Anderson) also had good starts, so we have a good bike.

Lewis Phillips: Where on the track do you feel you need to make the most improvements? Is there one area you're still uncomfortable with?

Prado: I struggled in the whoops a lot today, jumping the whoops. It was more because the whole balance of the bike was a little off. It was making me feel uncomfortable in the whoops. In practice, I could jump the whoops good, but it's obviously different in the races. I feel that we will be way better in the next round. We have a few days of testing coming up, so I'm not worried at all. Just improving the bike a little bit will be a big difference.

Lewis Phillips: What parts will you be testing specifically? Is there one area of the bike you will tackle first?

Prado: I don't know. We should ask the team. After the race, we had a meeting where I explained everything I felt, and they knew how to do it. I trust them 100%. 

Lewis Phillips: After how well tonight went, can you podium a Supercross this year?

Prado: Well, that would be a dream, to be honest. Again, we have to be realistic. Even a P2 in a heat race wasn't realistic for me coming here. Riding how I did in the first minutes of the main event, I didn't expect that. As I showed today, I'm probably better on race day than on a practice day, but it's too quick to answer about a podium. Every time I go out, I want to win and do good, and that's why I fight for every single position, but we have to stay realistic. Together with the team, we will make good improvements to get closer to the front.

Credit: Lewis Phillips
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