Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado delivered an epic home masterclass at the MXGP of Galicia this weekend, securing three wins from three races. Not only did Prado’s scorching pace propel him to the top step of the podium in front of his home fans, but it put him back on top of the championship standings; reclaiming the coveted red plate.
In front of a packed home crowd, who lined every part of the 1550m track in North Western Spain, Prado started the weekend with a commanding pole position in qualifying, setting the tone for what would be a historic home GP domination. He secured his 8th Fox Holeshot of the season and led every lap of the first moto, establishing a significant lead over his closest rival, Romain Febvre, by the final flag.
As the race day progressed from a wetter morning to a sunny afternoon, which saw the dark soil surface dry out, Jorge continued to leave his rivals in the dust. Despite a slight glitch with the start gate system at the start of race two – which necessitated a total race restart – Prado kept his cool. By the second lap, Prado was flying again, treating fans to an intense battle with rival Calvin Vlaanderen, as well as a bar-to-bar battle with Tim Gajser. In the end, Prado won out in trademark style, taking the chequered flag by a 2.8-second margin. The result marks Prado’s seventh win – his 43rd career victory so far – and places him once again in P1 in the standings by a 2-point margin over rival Tim Gajser.
In MX2, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing boasted a bumper lineup of riders for the Galician round; with Simon Längenfelder and the freshly recovered Marc-Antoine Rossi, joined by GASGAS Junior riders Valerio Lata and Mads Fredsoe as wildcard entries.
Längenfelder, in particular, rolled into Lugo just six days after having surgery to fix a broken collarbone, which he picked up at the MXGP of Portugal. Despite this, Längenfelder went on to take 7th and 9th in both motos, bagging a solid 26 points to keep his championship hopes alive. Teammate Marc-Antoine Rossi was also battling back from injury, having been forced to sit out last weekend’s Portuguese round due to an injury sustained at the MXGP of Trentino.
After qualifying 10th on Saturday, Rossi scored a tenth-place finish in the first moto, and then unfortunately retired in the second moto due to a riding error while running in 6th place, placing him 14th overall in the final classification.
If all that wasn’t enough, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Junior riders Valerio Lata and Mads Fredsoe, who normally race in the EMX250 championship, took on the challenge of wildcard entries in MX2. Lata, who currently leads the EMX250 championship, showed flashes of brilliance. After qualifying 12th, he experienced a tough start but managed to work his way up to a 14th-place finish in the first race. Despite an even more challenging start in the second race, where he found himself at 34th on the first lap, Lata fought back to finish 17th.
Mads Fredsoe also faced a huge learning curve, qualifying 20th and finishing 24th in the first race. The second race saw a remarkable improvement at the start, with Fredsoe rocketing to 3rd place on the first lap. However, maintaining this position proved difficult, and he finished the race in 19th place. Lata and Fredsoe finished the weekend in 13th and 22nd places, respectively.
Next up Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing and the 2024 FIM Motocross Championship goes three for three, with a third race in as many weekends – at the MXGP of France on the 19th of May.
MXGP – #1 – Jorge Prado: “I grew up around 15 minutes from here, and pretty much learnt to ride all around here, so of course winning an MXGP here makes things super special. Because it is my home event, I had a lot of commitments outside of racing this weekend, which made it challenging – but I have enjoyed every minute of it all the same. It’s a very tough track – especially in the second moto, which was very rough. My goal for the weekend was to win – and I did it! I feel like nothing could stop me this weekend! We also have recaptured the red plate – and to have it is important, but to keep it until the end of the season is going to take more work. I’m ready!”
MX2 – #516 – Simon Längenfelder: “My weekend was – let’s say – I’m super happy to have been on the start line at all! It was very early to come back to a race, with just so many days after the surgery, but everything was going good – so I think we made the right choice. We had a very good qualifying race – where we finished fifth – so I’m very happy with that one. Then both of the races on Sunday we had good starts – noth the best – but good. The intensity wasnt there in the first few laps, I was being careful to not hurt my shoulder. 7th and 9th, for 9th overall. Just to be able to ride six days after the surgery was so good – and to take away points from it – I’m very happy!”
MX2 – #28 – Marc-Antoine Rossi: “Today’s race was super tough from start to finish. We had a decent start in the first moto, managing to carve through the pack to get a solid position. The track here in Galicia is brutal, with its tight corners and heavy soil, but we adapted our strategy. Unfortunately, in the second moto I made a mistake. I was pushing hard, running in sixth, when I went off the track and got tangled in the fence. It’s about learning from every lap, every corner, and every setback. We’ll take these lessons forward, and aim for a stronger comeback in the next round.”
