The FIM Motocross World Motocross Championship came to a scorching conclusion in southern Spain today at the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha as the 20th and final round of the season saw reigning World Champion Jorge Prado retain his crown with overall victory for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, but he was pushed all the way to the very last race with a final winning margin of just ten points!
From his dominant form in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, the red plate holder made it clear that he had no intention of losing the title on home ground, and with two clear holeshots and scintillating early pace, he fought off the challenge of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser to clinch his fourth World Championship, to the delight of his home fans, although there was a scare for him on the way!
The writing was on the wall for the reigning Champion’s rivals after his clear win in the RAM Qualifying Race on Saturday, although Jeffrey Herlings again showed his pace with the fastest time in the morning Warm-Up session for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
The sheer speed of Prado into the first corner of race one was once more nothing short of breath-taking, and he crossed the Fox Holeshot line on the exit with around five bike lengths on the next rider, Jeremy Seewer, in his last GP for the Kawasaki Racing Team.
Local fans had cause for concern, however, as Gajser immediately snapped past both Seewer and the fast-starting Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Andrea Bonacorsi to get himself up into second place, and the Slovenian started hounding the rear wheel of the Spanish hero.
Coming out of the second corner, Herlings had run wide off the track, and was judged to have gained an advantage as he rejoined, resulting in a three-position penalty. Regardless, he charged through to third position on track by the close, relegated to sixth position by the penalty.
One of the riders he passed was Standing Construct Honda rider Alberto Forato, who fought forward throughout the race, passing Seewer with a strong move at the end of the start straight on lap 14. Sadly for the Italian, he tipped over in a corner on the following lap, allowing Seewer and his Kawasaki Racing Team stablemate Romain Febvre into what was ultimately third and fourth. Forato recovered to be classified in fifth.
Behind the top six were Bonacorsi, Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR rider Valentin Guillod, then Maxime Renaux in ninth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP after a nasty crash in the early laps. Jan Pancar rounded out the top ten on his TEM JP253 KTM.
At the front, Prado did what he does best, and despite Gajser’s best efforts the Spaniard edged away to build a seven-second lead before easing off in the closing laps to secure his 17th Sunday race win of the campaign and take a 12-point lead into the final race of the year!
That final race began in usual fashion for the Champ, with another clinical Fox Holeshot Award, his 18th for the season! This time it was Gajser who ran off the circuit, exiting turn one and rejoining between some advertising boards. He was judged not to have gained an advantage and was allowed to race on without penalty.
Seewer was again right at the sharp end, but Herlings blasted past him into the third corner and looked to be racing with intentions on a race win. Febvre and Gajser also advanced past Seewer before the start of the first full lap.
Behind the top five, the drying circuit was at its toughest, and most of the top ten held their positions until the end, including Guillod in a solid sixth, Fantic Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff, home rider Ruben Fernandez in eighth for Team HRC, with Renaux and Pancar again finishing ninth and tenth after Bonacorsi suffered a fall down the order. Guillod would take sixth overall ahead of Forato, Coldenhoff, Renaux, and Pancar.
The big moment occurred on lap seven, as Prado’s rear wheel suddenly stepped out on a downhill and he was forced to run off the circuit! Under pressure from Herlings at the time, “The Bullet” immediately led, and the fans looked worried as Prado seemed to cruise for a few corners, allowing Febvre and Gajser into second and third. Fortunately for the #1, there was no issue with his machine, and he took it easy to the flag. Gajser did all he could but couldn’t close on the leading pair, and Febvre tipped over in a corner as he tried to pressure Herlings, but kept hold of second place.
This left the top three in the series, Prado, Gajser, and Herlings to finish in that order overall, with Febvre and Seewer fourth and fifth in the GP. Prado had the crowd fully behind him all the way to the chequered flag, and the celebrations are continuing long into the night! His 49th career GP win levels him with Gajser, and he becomes the first back-to-back MXGP World Champion since the Slovenian’s successful title defence of 2020. It was a good day to be a Spanish Motocross fan in Cozar!
Jorge Prado: “This is just unbelievable like at the beginning of the season I wouldn’t imagine to be sitting in this position right now and I was just enjoying it so much that second race was so long it just didn’t end and you know so much work goes behind this and all the fans came over they were supporting every single lap of every race and this is amazing to see this. Amazing to feel in that atmosphere over there when I was in the party and just unbelievably grateful to get the world title over here in Spain with my fans with my family my friends with everyone. Just thank you everyone, it’s been an awesome year again!.”
Tim Gajser: “I mean we had a great season, you know, nice battle with Jorge and with Jeffrey. So, congrats to Jorge for winning the title. I was really close this year, I was giving my best and I think we had a really good championship. So, I want to say a huge thank you to all my team, the bike was amazing for the all year and everybody around me. So, a huge thank you. Thank you very much guys.”
Jeffrey Herlings: “So first of all over the weekend, yeah, you know to finish 3rd in the championship I’m quite happy with. Coming out today with a podium it’s okay obviously had quite some bad luck with some decisions. But Jorge, he was the best for the whole year. Starts is one thing he was the king of that and furthermore he he’s a champion so big congrats to him. But I think today the result is and furthermore he was he’s a champion so big congrats to that. I’m looking forward to next year.”
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), 34:12.045; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.766; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:22.715; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.473; 5. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:34.497; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:16.287; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:45.920; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:49.842; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:50.227; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:58.662
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:19.434; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.501; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:12.077; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:20.893; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:21.282; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:23.183; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:24.978; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:25.889; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.998; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:57.416;
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: . Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 43 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 42 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 36 p.; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 28 p.; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 25 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 24 p.; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 22 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 996 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 986 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 944 p.; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 686 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 651 p.; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 601 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 550 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 428 p.; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 388 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 340 p.
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 1017 points; 2. GASGAS, 996 p.; 3. KTM, 956 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 867 p.; 5. Yamaha, 748 p.; 6. Fantic, 643 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 327 p.; 8. Beta, 171 p.; 9. Ducati, 19 p.
MXGP OF CASTILLA LA MANCHA QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1550m
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 27°
Weather conditions: Sunny
Crowd Attendance: 36,300
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©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of www.mxgp.com
