A jubilant Jorge Prado threw a huge whip as he crossed the line to win the overall in Turkey after a perfect moto despite having pressure from both Gajser and Herlings, the trio finishing over 40 seconds ahead of fourth place Romain Febvre who started with the front three out of the gate – the pace is electric right now!
After an open track yesterday with passing places and great racing, the track crew blew it overnight to create the opposite – a rutted one-lined circuit with too much discing. Half the track waa unusable and the other so rutted it was hard to move around the track and set up a pass.
But Prado just executed perfectly from start to finish in race two to make up for frustrating third in race one (with Gajser fourth) and now has the lead down to 14 points with two rounds to go, the Spaniard said:
“I really needed that. The first moto I was so unlucky, my pants were opened on the first lap and the last ten minutes my lense came off the frame of the goggles. So much bad luck when it was a I moto think I could have made passes and went for the win and gained many points. It is what it is, I came back strong in the second one, got a good start, super happy with the win. It was a perfect second moto, we gained points, that’s the goal right now. Unto the last two rounds, a final push let’s see how it ends”
Gajser, who took second overall on his birthday weekend with a 4-2, commented:
“It was a solid day again, finishing on the podium, that’s our goal, collecting good points for the championship. I felt the second moto I was feeling a bit better. First moto I was struggling with the line choices, two riders passed me and it was not easy to pass, it was one-lined track. The second race they worked a bit on the track but it was mainly inside lines and it was not easy to pass. I was always there waiting for a mistake but Jorge was riding a perfect race.”
