Jorge Prado | Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado walked the top steps of both podiums at the Grand Prix of Limburg as the Spaniard ruled around the demanding sand of the Lommel circuit in Belgium. Tony Cairoli was 3rd overall at the 14th round of 18.
Windy and overcast conditions marked the Grand Prix of Limburg and the second event in the 2020 FIM World Championship to take place in the deep Lommel sand. A rainy morning caused the terrain to become even softer, rougher and slower and therefore also more physically draining.
Jorge Prado started race day with his 15th holeshot of the season in the first moto. He led the race twice: once in the opening stages from Tim Gajser and then again when the Slovenian briefly crashed. Prado could not keep pace as Gajser recovered and fought back but collected a strong 2nd position. In the next outing, Prado flew in formation with teammate Tony Cairoli. The pair circulated close together and Prado was able to keep the Sicilian at bay for his fifth checkered flag of 2020 (the second-highest total of all the riders). Prado’s eighth podium appearance in his rookie term means he is now only two points behind Cairoli in the world championship standings and 57 points from the lead.
Tony Cairoli improved his Qualification position to 8th and made a reasonable start in the first moto. He kept a consistent pace and moved up from 7th to 5th where he finished. In the second race #222 was immediately part of a top-three breakaway with Jorge Prado and Tim Gajser. After Gajser’s off-track excursion Cairoli fought with Prado until the line but was handicapped by a lack of roll-off that meant he had to keep wiping his goggles. The 5-3 allowed the former world champion to open his sixth bottle of champagne in 2020 and remain 2nd in the MXGP table.
“It was a tough day and I didn’t feel 100% but I fought as much as I could. Tony and I had a good race in the second moto and I gave my ‘all’ for that victory; I’m really happy to have made it. The injuries at the start of the season meant that I missed bike time and I was racing without preparation. Now I am starting to feel better and I think it’s normal that it takes some time to get to a good level. Now we have to recover and get ready to go again on Sunday.”
“I liked today. Last weekend was an ‘ugly copy’ of me because everyone knows I can ride the sand. Today was still not my best day on this surface but the second moto was good, and I had a nice feeling on the bike. I made some mistakes but got closer to the front. I was a little bit faster than Jorge in some places but was already out of roll-off. So, I didn’t get the chance to overtake him again and [Romain] Febvre was closing in. I was trying to go for the win but Jorge was strong. He deserved the overall. We’ll try to be better on Sunday and go for the win, for sure.”