Ben Townley and Jason Thomas had some very interesting things to say about Jorge Prado not being able to show his true level on a Kawasaki, that the Spaniard said doesn’t have enough power to suit his riding style – and he isn’t even getting starts.
Speaking on the Live Motocross podcast, BT said: “His patience is already running thin and that’s because he’s the high achiever. He’s the best of the best.”
“I mean, this guy is good, he’s got four world championships under his belt already, I think, to this point, you know, so he’s that good. And when you’re not witnessing what he is capable of by a long stretch of imagination.”
“He ain’t getting the holeshot as it stands the way their package is. Just whether you like it or not, I don’t care. I don’t care if those guys are listening or they hear about it and they hear what I say. That’s just fair. It ain’t happening…You don’t take the very best starter ever to ever grace the presence of a motorcycle and not be able to start.”
And Jason Thomas said Prado told Kawasaki what he wanted from the bike when he signed: “I also heard Jorge kind of asking about the bike (prior to signing). I’m sure he rode it at some point. But him very clearly relaying to Monster Energy Kawasaki in America that he needed the fastest package they could put together possible. That is what he wants out of his motorcycle because he doesn’t want to have to rely on carrying a lot of speed. He doesn’t want to have to rely on like overriding it the way that Eli does. Like he kind of wants to point and shoot. He wants it for straight line acceleration. That’s what suits him. So he was trying to get in front of it last year and say, hey, just no, I want the fastest bike we can possibly build.
“I’ve heard for the last two years, ever since that brand new 2024 Kawasaki, Anderson and Cianciarulo. I’ve heard firsthand and secondhand them both saying like we were a little down on power. And I’m being very kind with how that was put.”
Listen to their excellent analysis below as Townley reveals one of the reasons Eli Tomac left Kawasaki was because he wanted more power:
