It’s a marathon not a sprint, right? Well, Jorge Prado has has sprinted his way to the championship lead winning 8 out of 9 motos so far with almost a full race on both Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre just three rounds in!
Mr Consistent from last year, Prado, is Mr Perfect this year. Jorge admitted he rarely rode at 100% last season in order to get the title – he played it smart. Now he’s playing the raw speed card. With Herlings and Gajser fit, and what looked more than likely to be his last year in MXGP before going to race supercross, Prado is laying down statement after statement. He is, undeniably, the man the beat this year, and it’s on raw speed.
Was it the intensty from supercross, the motivation to shut the doubters up or the desire to end his GP career on a high? Maybe it’s a combination of it all and the fact Prado told us he feels even better on the bike that last year after making a couple of setting changed pre-season.
So, how do you beat a guy that has the raw speed, aligned with a technique on the same level as Stefan Everts, the self-confidence that he’s the best and the in-race intelligence to ride smart if he needs to? Well, there simply isn’t a lot of gaps in his game to take advantage of. They might just have to find Jeffrey Herlings level of speed of 2018 to even give Prado something to think about – and have we even seen Prado’s full speed?! No-one knows yet, he might even have more if he needs it!
The man who is best equipped right now looks like Tim Gajser. Gajser has actually had a really strong start to the year. A podium in every round, a moto win and showing brilliant speed in the deep sand, Gajser’s form shouldn’t be ignored, he’s just dealing with a Jorge Prado who has went to another level this year, and maybe it is his best level ever.
It all starts with the starts, even if you don’t get the holeshot your surely have to be second just to try and get on Prado’s back wheel when he tries to sprint away in the opening five/ten minutes. Gajser’s starts have been good this year and coming into Arco, a hard pack track, short of having a Slovenian GP, this is his home event, this weekend is where Gajser will want to his back and dent the win streak of Prado.
Prado won the opener, then dominated his home GP despite the pressure, and he had Gajser, Febvre and Herlings 1-2-3-4 in moto two on lap one. That was straight up. Again in the sand, even against Jeffrey Herlings, he went 1-1-1, and for one time only this year, Herlings even got away in second to actually see what made Prado so good this year, and while Herlings had Prado’s speed he crashed just when it looked like they were about to battle to the flag. Again, advantage Prado.
Now it’s Arco, a track that Gajser and Romain Febvre shine at, but, if Prado wins again, it’s yet another huge statement just four rounds into the season. The kid is on fire but Gajser, Febvre and Herlings have to start making things happen now. All three are riding well but they just cannot get in front of the defending world champ to put pressure on him. Herlings plan is probably going according to er, plan, he’s getting better each weekend and had the speed to challenge last weekend, Febvre is riding very well but his mechanical really hurt his points tally, and Gajser has barely put a foot wrong this season and is the man closest to the Spaniard, but Prado is just on sensational form right now and still putting it to them week after week, on three diverse tracks. He appears to have no weakness in his game.
Herlings, Gajser and Febvre have 11 world titles between them, this trio know how to win races and championships, and they all know they need to stop the momentum of Prado, but Prado is a three time world champ himself and is in the form of his life. It’s a fascinating dynamic between four riders who have 14 world titles between them. This is the elite and all three are trying to figure out how to beat that man Prado.
Arco will be another big test for all four, and could help dictate the momentum for the series, Gajser is still within shooting distance, another podium is no disaster but you know he would love more than anything to put it to Prado in front of his hordes of travelling Slovenian fans at Arco – and Prado would love nothing more than to lay down another statement ride in front of Gajser’s fans at one of his best tracks!
The pressure is on Gajser, Herlings and Febvre already, Prado has attacked early and maybe caught them off guard with his raw speed after riding supercross in January. Something has to change quickly if they want this title to be a brawl to the end, the marathon men might need to sprint earlier than they wanted to or Prado will be managing this championship in the second half of the series like he did last season.
Image: JPA
