In a unique set of circumstances not seen since 1999 when Sebastian Tortelli came over the the States, the reigning MXGP world champ will be taking om the reigning US outdoor champ as Jorge Prado will go head to head with Chase Sexton in a battle for supremacy. Let’s hope it goes better than 1999 for Prado that Tortelli, who, while leading the championship, collided with the reigning champ Doug Henry at Unadilla over a jump leaving Tortelli down and out of the championship with a broken wrist!
A confident Prado said: “I am excited to race here in the US, that’s why I came over. I am excited to race all these guys; Jett, Chase, Eli. All these guys have been Pro Motocross champions in the past years. I think it is very cool, I can’t even remember the last time an MXGP champion came over and raced here so it going to be interesting for everyone, including myself. I am very happy to be here and start the season on Saturday.“
Prado added: “It’s a new series for me so that gets you extra motivation. I think I accomplished everything in the world championship, so it’s my time now to get it done here. I have a great team and since the injury we have put in a lot of work I couldn’t be more happy than everything we have done together. Not much to say just happy to start racing on Saturday and see how it goes.
“I am very confident on my starts and my riding at the moment even though we didn’t have a bunch of time, we are in a good spot. I am confident and hopefully we can replicate what we did in the world championship.
While Sexton said he would like to see this sort of battle of the giants more often: “For me it is cool seeing Jorge come over here and take the chance, it says a lot about him. I think it would be cool to see more guys come over and see the best of the best race each other. You have two series that are separate and you really never know who is better and who is worse. I think it’s cool to have these guys starting to come over here and vice versa and even us going over there a little bit would be cool. Having those two world’s collide a bit would be cool, to see the best of the best race each other.“
On keeping the momentum of supercross Sexton said: ” I won A1 and didn’t win the championship, so I don’t think it really matters as long as you don’t ruin it. I am confident so I am not really worried about the momentum thing, you just got to go out there and do the best I can. Everyone is testing throughout the season and we will see where we stack up tomorrow with the bike. As of right now I feel good and, like I said, I had some good days on outdoors, I am looking forward to the challenge and it’s cool to see everyone back on the line.”
