On Track Off Road No.183

Prado talks #1, being better in 2019,
the KTM 250 SX-F and turning 18
MX2 World Champion Jorge Prado
reached the ripe age of eighteen two
weeks ago but is already talking like a
seasoned Grand Prix pro as he vies to
become KTM’s third double title winner
since the inception of the MX2 class in
2004. Prado is working under the tutelage
and guidance of Tony Cairoli, Claudio
De Carli and his staff in the Red Bull
KTM team for the second year in a row
and for his third as an official KTM athlete.
Even though his championship campaign
involved impressive consistency
(17 podiums and 12 wins), rapier starts
and uncatchable speed in the opening
laps of motos, Prado insists he is still ‘in
progress’.
“I’m working hard to improve and make
the right steps. I’m training hard again
and the big difference is this time I don’t
have to handle an injury so I can be better
prepared,” he says in reference to the
elbow fracture that forced a two month
hiatus from the KTM last winter. ‘2018
was tough at the start and hopefully I
can be more careful up until the start of
the world championship.”
“To be better in every way; that’s the
job,” he added. “I can get faster and I
can be stronger, especially physically.
Then it is about working on the small
things. I made mistakes last year…”
Prado has only just become old enough
to vote and hold a driver’s licence (“basically
the day after I had the licence I
started on the road from Rome to Sardinia!”)
but is now charged with leading
KTM’s effort in a category they have
dominated and with the class-leading
250 SX-F technology.
“KTM are always looking for a better
bike,” he commented on the development
programme for 2019 and a task
that Technical Co-Ordinator Dirk Gruebel
admitted would be “difficult to make big
steps”. “Last year it was already on a
high level so to improve is tricky but the
factory and the team are working hard,”
Prado concurred. “I basically used the
same suspension all through last season,
and the power of the bike was good
but there are small details to be able to
improve more.”
Prado lifted his FIM gold medal at the
final round of 2018 in Imola. He admitted
that the week after the Italian race and
around the ’18 Motocross of Nations was
“crazy” but the thoughts of 2019 swiftly
enabled the fuss and distraction of realising
a lifetime dream to subside.
The rider from Galicia will not run
the coveted #1 in 2019. Amazingly he
doesn’t feel worthy of the plate. “I’m going
to stick with the #61 because I think
I don’t quite deserve the #1,” he candidly
admitted. “I think the Big ‘1’ is for the
very best in motocross and that’s not
me; it’s for the guy in the next category,
the highest category. One day when, if, I
can manage it in MXGP then I’ll change!
I don’t have any official merchandise yet
so it is not a big problem for me to have
another number…but even so many people
now know me with the 61.”