Wow, wow and more wow. Jorge Prado, the four-time world motocross champion has picked up yet another world championship, and while the SMX championship isn’t even close to the celebration of winning an MXGP world championship, it’s still a big title and for sure, one Prado might even enjoy more than a 20-round series around the world. He has found his place in USA and that has been his goal for a long, long time.

What we learnt about Jorge Prado in the last month, is that he is back, back to the level of the days of beating the likes of Jeffrey Herlings, Tim Gajser and Romain Febvre in MXGP.

The Spaniard has truly made us all believers again and his SMX championship victory will line him up nicely to arrive at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations with a target on his back.

He handled the MXGP boys rather easily in his two MXGP title wins in 2023 and 2024 and while Jeffrey Herlings is showing career high performances, the Herlings vs Prado battle will now be the main focus in Ernee next weekend.

Whatever that fight brings, be it a win by Herlings and the Dutch, or Prado and the Spanish, one thing is for sure, Prado has just given a major boost for the MXoN, which has a lot of no shows due to injuries, or riders not wanting to attend.

We might be without the Lawrence brothers, or Haiden Deegan, or Kay De Wolf, or Chase Sexton, or Tim Gajser, but with the Herlings vs Prado fight, we 100% have something that will be mouth watering and very much a highlight of the weekend.

SMX champion of 2026, Prado spoke to the American media and below is what he told us. In a typically well spoken interview, he gives his heart and soul into his comments and its a pleasure to hear it.

Haiden Deegan and Dirty Racing

Prado: If he isn’t close enough, he can’t get me. So, my mentality, was, I need to pull away, but I couldn’t. He was always super close. I was fast in some areas, but he was getting me in others. I couldn’t make that comfy three second gap, where I knew, he wasn’t going to go straight into me. We got into some lappers, and he got closer and I knew on that one eighty, triple, one eighty, there was a chance there. I was leaving a lot of space on the inside. The main thing, if you are leaving space, but are on the main line and you hit the main line good, then you have a little gap. With the lapper, he didn’t move, obviously the same guy as always. I wanted to go to the inside and he moved to the outside and Haiden just rode into me. It wasn’t even a racing line. I could feel it and for some reason, it wasn’t enough for me to tip over. Then I was like, okay, now I really need to go for it. I made sure I hit the sand section fast. I don’t like those games of making block passes and that isn’t the type of racing I race. He likes that and maybe in the lower category (250 class), he could play with the other kids, but not with me. When you race with that mentality, you end up bad. When you race clean, you have a lot of things in your favour. I am against that type of racing. I am not racing for the money like he is. I am racing with passion, I am racing because I love the sport, because I accomplished a lot of things in MXGP and I came over here and proved to everyone, I can get world champion here as well. Racing with passion is what you need to get the number one.

Winning After a Horrible 2025 season

Prado: I think this is one of the most beautiful titles, I could achieve, because last year was a tough year and bouncing back, its hard mentally and you need the right people around me and I have the best people and the people around me believe in me.I mean, one year ago, I wasn’t racing here and I didn’t even have a ride at that point. The Red Bull KTM racing team did an amazing job, prepping all winter long, every single week. I prepped myself at home, the best I could and I bounced back. That is what champions do right, they bounce back. Super happy about this title, its my first title here in the states. I am a four time world champion for a reason. I think I showed them in this last moto, it isn’t over until its over and I showed you guys, everything is possible. I am another time world champion, lets go.

A tough opening Moto

Prado: Moto one was a tough one. I had a good jump out of the gate, but I didn’t get the drive afterwards. I went into the first corner very bad, in the middle of the pack, even towards the end. I made a lot of passes in the first few corners in the first lap, and I got into fifth pretty quickly, and I just couldn’t make any more passes. I was quite upset after moto one and I thought I can maybe lose this championship, and it would have been my fault, not getting that start and not being able to pass Coope and the guys in front. I put myself in a very bad position, going into moto two.

Determined To Win the Championship

Prado: My thoughts before moto two were, well, you know what, the only way to get this title is to win the final moto, but it isn’t easy, because I haven’t won any of the races, so how and why would I win the last one. So, the chances are pretty low right? I made some changes, lined up in a different position. I think that was a mistake in moto one. I knew my start had to be perfect. I made sure I chose a good gate; I made sure I was line up perfectly and made sure, I could execute everything 100%. I had a pretty okay jump out of the gate, and I really had to go deep into the corner, to get the holeshot, and once I got the holeshot, it was race on. This was a position I was waiting on and I was nervous about, because I wanted to get first out of the corner. I saw Haiden, directly into second and now it’s a face-to-face fight. Let’s do it. My mentality was just going for the win. I didn’t have another option in my head. I knew if I got the win, I was for sure winning this title. So, I went for it and sprinter for 20 plus one. I sprinted all the way, I couldn’t go faster than that and that is the reality and I was giving my 100%. I was trying not to crash, but we were on 100%.

The Relief of Victory

Prado: I mean, there was a lot of pressure. I wanted to win and when you want to win coming into moto two, the only option, was to win the moto, then you just have something in here, that is just eating you. I have been in this position before, but it was a relief of everything I went through and so much happiness.