Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing rider Jorge Prado is the defending winner of the Czech Republic GP, certainly making him one to watch at round 13 of 19 there next weekend.
Prado took a solid victory last year after scoring a 1-3 result.
The Spaniard has often done well at the Loket circuit and will no doubt go into next week’s Grand Prix with high expectations.
With 35 GP wins to his name, 31 in MX2 and four in MXGP, you just know that the two-time World MX2 champion will want to try and gain some ground on series leader Tim Gajser, of Team HRC.
Second in the championship standings, Prado is 125 points away from Gajser and it will take a huge effort to catch the four-time Motocross World Champion, but if anyone can, it’s Prado.
A clear liking for the hard pack circuits, Prado has won many of his GPs in places like Spain, Italy, France and Bulgaria, on some of the toughest hard pack circuits in the world.
In fact, his first ever Grand Prix victory came at the Trentino circuit, that tight, twisting hard pack facility that catches so many riders out.
It wasn’t just last year’s win at Loket though that stands out in the Czech Republic, but also back in 2019 Prado won there, taking out the MX2 overall and he also won at Loket in 2018, again on the 250.
His worst result on the hard pack in the Czech Republic was a fifth place in MX2 in 2017.
Leading into Loket Prado has been somewhat up and down in his results, with 7-3 scores at the German GP and an impressive 2-2 at Sumbawa in Indonesia just a couple of weeks ago.
Third place overall in Germany and second overall in Indonesia, but still losing major points to Gajser in both rounds as the red plate owner scored 1-2-1-1 results.
“Germany was an okay weekend,” Prado said. “I did not expect to be on the box after the first race! I was struggling a little bit, but we made some steps in a good direction and that helped me in that second race. We need to keep working though, especially on tracks like this.
“I was looking forward to the next event in Indonesia and it was a good weekend. I felt a little bit better than I did in qualifying on Saturday – it was a tough track.
“I got a good start in the second race, but Tim had better pace and passed me. We are going up and now have some time before the next race. I will try to get some rest, do some good training and step it up.”
Now with another win at his beloved hard pack of Loket as a goal, you just know Prado will try and build his confidence and momentum at the old school circuit and give himself some chance of catching Gajser in the series standings.
With seven rounds remaining and a maximum of 350 points possible, Gajser hasn’t won the 2022 MXGP championship just yet, but if victory doesn’t come for Prado in a weeks’ time, then the fight for the biggest prize in motocross might just be about over.
Pressure is something Prado knows, and maybe it can become his friends at the famous Loket circuit on July 17.
Words by Geoff Meyer
Photo courtesy KTM
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