Two of America’s greatest, Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto gave their view on Jorge Prado’s struggles after a tough day in Unadilla where he didn’t manage to crack the top ten in either moto.
RC: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the bike. I don’t think there’s anything. I did some digging and talked to a few people, and dude, he’s trying. I don’t know. I don’t think there was anything wrong with him. I think the pace is gnarly, but I just saw a clip, and I even was using Twitter or X, whatever you want to call it, and I saw him look back when he got passed by Jcoop, and it was just like, dude, he completely shut off, but there was nothing wrong with him, and it just, I don’t know. I think he’s in a tough spot.
RV: The way we race our tracks, the amount of racing that we do, the pace of our racing. I had said it in the beginning that if he could finish fifth through eighth all outdoor season, that would be a hell of a season for him, a hell of a building season for him. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, and I think that the biggest thing with our racing, and especially our tracks, is because I didn’t get to ride all of the European tracks, but I rode quite a few of the practice tracks where we would train, and also rode four rounds of the MXGP. That being said, the pace of our opening laps are very, very high. We don’t have the Saturday sessions like they do. We just go straight into practice, straight into our motos. That’s a huge thing to learn, but also the speeds. The speeds on our tracks here in the United States are much, much, much, much higher than in Europe. It’s a tough spot to be in. That’s for sure. It’s a very tough spot.
RC: I hate it. I hate it for him. He’s going to have to dig deeper than he ever has before ever in his career, I believe. Because I feel like straight up, he’s on the tipping point, you know? Because I don’t feel like he’s going to put up with it too much too much longer. They got Chase is coming in, right? So that’s probably going to be for all intent and purposes their top dog. There’ll be some young guys coming up to the 250 and I’m assuming they’re going to be looking for some results, you know, after this year. And I like the kid. I think it’s great. I think we need him in the sport, especially from a world championship SMX point of view. So I’m pulling for him.
Watch the full segment below:
See how their view compares to two of the greatest in MXGP, Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings, as they assess Jorge Prado’s outdoor season:
