Jorge Prado doubles in Sweden and closes gap in MXGP standings

MADRID, 11 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Spanish rider Jorge Prado (GasGas) made up a lot of ground this weekend at the Swedish round of the Motocross World Championship and is now 17 points behind Slovenian Tim Gajser (Honda) in the MXGP category after scoring two wins.

According to the press department, the Lugo native took victory on the Uddevalla track with a convincing double in an event where he already showed his good work with a second place in training and in the qualifying round on Saturday.

However, on Sunday he raised his level to achieve a great victory, with two very different heats, in one coming back and in the other dominating on a special circuit for the Galician because there he was proclaimed MX2 world champion for the second time.

Prado did not get off to a good start in the first round, but he made a great comeback to overtake all his rivals one by one until he reached Gajser, whom he overtook with a sensational manoeuvre to take the final victory.

“I’m super happy, I had a very bad start, reacting slowly at the gate and then I had to make up a lot of positions, passing everyone. It wasn’t easy to pass and there were few blue flags and it’s very dangerous to overtake the lapped riders,” warned the rider from Lugo.

The second race, however, was different as the Spaniard took the lead from the first corner and did not let his main rivals get close to him in the almost 35 minutes that it took to win ahead of Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) and Gajser. In doing so, he reduced his disadvantage over the Slovenian by 17 points and increased it to 19 over the Dutchman.

“I’m very happy with this victory, winning both heats. They’ve been two solid races in which I’ve felt very good on the track, even though it was very difficult. I’m very happy. It’s been a great weekend. I had to be at 100% to win here and I did. In the second race I was able to get into the lead in the first corner, do some very good opening laps and maintain the advantage so as not to have any scares with the lapped riders,” stressed Prado, whose next race will be next weekend on the Dutch sand, where the final and decisive quarter of the World Championship will begin.