There is no doubt in my mind, after the MXGP of Patagonia, it seems clear to me two men will be tough to beat this coming weekend in the deep sand of Riola Sardo. Of course, one race doesn’t define a season, but what I saw from Jorge Prado and Jeffrey Herlings last weekend really makes me believe we might get something a little special this coming weekend in Sardinia.

Herlings and Prado do have some sand history and it all began way back seven years ago in 2016 when this 15 year old kid took it to “The Bullet”. Herlings had 59 Grand Prix wins to his name and Prado had zero. Since that battle, both have won on multiple occasions in Lommel, Valkenswaard, Assen, Mantova, or any other sand circuit throughout Europe.

Both are excellent sand riders, Herlings possibly the best ever (sorry Stefan) and Prado, well, we all remember Assen like it was yesterday, when the heavy favourite for the MX2 championship and a rider who had gone 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, before hurting himself and missing three GPs, turned up at Assen, to be confronted by some snotty nosed kid who didn't really look at the past, but had his eyes firmly set on the future.

The return from injury came at his home Grand Prix at Assen and the white sand of the MotoGP circuit was sure to give him an advantage, despite his time out of action. Sure enough, Herlings would go 2-1 for his 60^th Grand Prix victory, but the tough racing by Prado woke everyone up and pretty much brought us “The Next Big Thing”. Herlings, while agitated by this young kids tough racing, was in fact more than impressed with the young Spaniard.

“I’m not surprised to see Jorge here, he is an amazing talent, the same like myself and Roczen when we were his age. He raced very tough, but I would expect that from him. He wants to win just like I want to win. When I move to the MXGP class next year, he will be the rider to beat, no doubt about it.”

Prado, who hadn’t even won the EMX250 championship in 2016 and in fact finished down in seventh place in the championship. Prado had however won the 2015 EMX125 championship from Josiah Natzke and Maxine Renaux was considered the man the lead the MX2 class in the future and sure enough, after a shaky seventh in the 2017 MX2 championship, where he was at times brilliant and at times on the ground, he dominated in 2018 and 2019, to become a two time MX2 World champion and collected a massive 31 Grand Prix victories.

Sure enough, his arrival in the MXGP class was impressive, but at 22 years of age, and a third place finish in the points in 2022, it is time for Prado to win a 450 title.

“Yes, we had some battles in the sand in 2021. He was the guy to beat and I was able to be in front of him for 26 minutes and I counted every single minute, because to be in front of him that long is a lot, for sure in the second moto (in 2021). I am looking forward to getting it done in a weeks’ time. I say it is going to be my year every year, so hopefully this one is. We are going to Sardinia, and I am very comfortable in the sand. I had some great battles there in the past, so I look forward to that. Hopefully we can get the points gap bigger.”

So, arriving in Sardinia this coming Friday, he will carry the red plate into an MXGP round for the first time, and with the pressure to beat Herlings in some of the deepest sand in Europe, you just know that his mind will be clear and seeing his confidence in Argentina, his will to win, will be greater than any time in his career.

These early rounds of 2023 are going to be critical, because as I have already mentioned, if Jeffrey Herlings gets momentum early in the season, then its show over for his rivals. Prado needs to go to Riola Sardo with the same attitude he had back at Assen in 2016. Push the five time champion around and let him know he isn’t afraid of Herlings 99 GP wins and five World titles. It is a job that is far easier said than done, but you can be assured, with Joel Smets in his corner, the goal will be to win in Sardinia and continue to extend that points lead.

Game on.....

Ray Archer images