A two-week shakedown in Southern California training at RD Field is all it took for defending MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado to make the decision to try his hand at AMA Supercross, set to make a fascinating cameo appearance across the opening three rounds of the 2024 season.

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Words: Press Release | Lead Image: GasGas

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• MXGP World Champion to make AMA Supercross Championship debut in 2024
• Partnering with the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing Team
• Planning to line up in 450SX Class at Anaheim 1, San Francisco and San Diego
• That’s right, our Spanish sensation is in for Anaheim 1, San Francisco and San Diego this coming January, equipped with the GASGAS MC 450F in what will be his first-ever American Supercross start – straight into the premier 450SX ranks on debut. And we’re stoked to see it!

Fresh from clinching the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in the MXGP category, which was a milestone achievement for both himself and GASGAS with the Davide De Carli-managed squad, Jorge had expressed his lifelong dream of sampling the sport of Supercross – and potentially making a 450SX start! – in the United States.

From there, accompanied by a blitz of media attention throughout his brief off-season excursion, the capabilities of the talented 22-year-old were evident from the outset while applying his craft within the tighter confines of training on a full-scale supercross track layout.

Together between Jorge, his regular Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team and the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing Team, it was decided that he will go on to contest the opening three rounds of the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship in a bid to gain experience via a series of gate-drops and race mileage in the U.S. during what will still be the Grand Prix off-season.

Jorge Prado: “Since I started riding my dream has always been to one day race in the U.S., specifically to race Supercross. I have watched it my whole life on television and always thought it must be great to race under lights with a huge crowd and atmosphere! And more specifically, it must be great to race at an iconic stadium like Angel Stadium. I was lucky enough in 2015, while visiting and training in the U.S., to go to Anaheim 1 – it was a great experience and made me want to try it even more. So given I won the MXGP title this year and am totally healthy and looking for a new challenge, I thought it was the perfect time in my career to come and train in USA properly to prepare for a few Supercross races. I don’t want to waste another whole year wondering if I could or should, so I am here and I am going to try it out. I’m really looking forward to it and am lucky enough to have the full support of my Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team back home with Claudio and Davide de Carli, and the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing Team here in the USA behind me.”

Roger De Coster (Director of Motorsports, North America): “The main goal for Jorge in 2024 is to defend the world title he earned this past season, but of course we are excited to see what he can do on a Supercross track. We all know that he is very talented, given he’s already a multiple times Motocross World Champion, having won in MX2 and being the current MXGP Champion. However, we also know that Supercross at the highest level is extremely competitive and to race with the top here requires a lot of toughness besides talent, so this will be a huge challenge for him. We wish him the very best and are glad that with the support of TLD GASGAS we are able to support his wishes to try Supercross!”

Davide De Carli (Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team Manager): “Jorge fulfilled his dream in Europe to become MXGP World Champion this year and we are so proud of him. His desire now is to train in the U.S. and to try Supercross, because he hasn’t had the opportunity until now and from our side he completely deserves it. We, as a team, along with Pit Beirer and Robert Jonas have been completely open since day one with Jorge about giving him the opportunity to race Supercross and we will support him from Europe! We can’t wait to see him line up at A1 as it’s important for him to race those first three rounds to clarify in his mind where his racing future is, as he’s still really young and can try it out. It’s also good winter training for him before the start of the MXGP season, where his goal is to defend his number one plate in 2024. Good luck, Jorge!”

Following his scheduled three-round appearance in the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship, Jorge will return to Europe and prepare for his MXGP World Championship defence, which will open at the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina on March 10, 2024.

As we look towards the 2024 season, MX Vice and Paul Pearcy have joined forces again to deliver some quality statistics, as we’ll be running through the top 10 in each championship across 2023 (MXGP, MX2, 450, 250 – AMA Supercross, SMX and Outdoors). Here all the riders that secured 4th in their respective title races.

MX 2

4) Liam Everts

• Qualifying Race Podiums: 7; Liam only missed scoring points in the qualifying race at 1 round, Maggiora.
• Race Podiums: 14
• Race Wins: 1; Race 2 at Teutschenthal
• Race Laps Led: 39
• GP Podiums: 8
• GP Wins: 3; Teutschenthal, Arnhem, and Afyonkarahisar

Averages

• Timed Practice: 8.421
• Qualifying Race Finish: 5.105; (3rd best in class)
• Qualifying Race First Lap Position: 7.157
• Qualifying Points: 118; (3rd best in class)
• Race Finishes: 6.157 in Race 1, 5.111 in Race 2
• GP Overalls: 5.526
• Race First Lap Position: 6.894
• Race Points: 308 from Race 1, 308 from Race 2(3rd best in class in Race 2 points earned)

Series Points: 734

MXGP

4) Glenn Coldenhoff

• Qualifying Race Podiums: 4
• Qualifying Race Wins: 1; Lommel
• Qualifying Race Laps Led: 6
• Race Podiums: 9
• Race Wins: 1; Race 2 at Sardegna
• Race Laps Led: 48
• GP Podiums: 5

Averages

• Timed Practice: 7.421
• Qualifying Race Finishes: 6.778
• Qualifying Race First Lap Position: 7.944
• Qualifying Race Points: 81
• Race Finishes: 5th in Race 1(2nd best in class); 6.368 in Race 2
• GP Overalls: 5.631
• Race First Lap Position: 6.973
• Race Points: 319 from Race 1, 295 from Race 2

Series Points: 695

250 West Supercross

4) Enzo Lopes

• Heat Race Podiums: 3
• Heat Race Win: 1; Denver
• Heat Race Laps Led: 11

Averages

• Qualifying: 4.778
• Heat Race Finishes: 3.571
• Heat Race First Lap Position: 4th 
• Main Event Finishes: 6.444
• Main Event First Lap Position: 9.481

Series Points: 149

250 East Supercross

4) Jordon Smith

• Heat Race Podiums: 6
• Heat Race Wins: 3; Houston, Indy, Nashville
• Heat Race Laps Led: 26; (Tied for 2nd most in class)
• Main Event Podiums: 4
• Main Event Laps Led: 19

Averages

• Qualifying: 2.5
• Heat Race Finishes: 4.111
• Heat Race First Lap Position: 2.778; (2nd best in class)
• LCQ Finish: 7th 
• LCQ First Lap Position: 20th 
• Main Event Finishes: 6.111
• Main Event First Lap Position: 7.518

Series Points: 159

450 Supercross

4) Ken Roczen

• Heat Race Podiums: 11; (Ken landed on the podium in the Heat Race 78% of the time)
• Heat Race Wins: 4; Oakland, East Rutherford, Denver, and Salt Lake City
• Heat Race Laps Led: 52; (Most Heat Race Laps Led in Class)
• Main Event Podiums: 6
• Main Event Win: 1; Indy
• Main Event Laps Led: 33; (3rd most in class)

Averages

• Qualifying: 4.882
• Heat Race Finishes: 2.428; (2nd best in class)
• Heat Race First Lap Position: 2.5; (2nd best in class)
• Main Event Finishes: 5.705
• Main Event First Lap Position: 5.689

Series Points: 304; (Tied for 3rd with Cooper Webb, Webb got 3rd in the Championship because of having more Main Event Wins on the season)

250 American Outdoors

4) Haiden Deegan

• 1st in Qualifying: 1; High Point
• Moto Podiums: 9
• Moto Wins: 3; Moto 1 at Hangtown, 1-1 at Washougal
• Moto Laps Led: 49
• Overall Podiums: 6; (Haiden landed on the podium 54%  of the time)
• Overall Wins: 2; RedBud, Washougal

Averages

• Qualifying: 5.909
• Moto Finishes: 7.454 in Moto 1, 5.454 in Moto 2
• Overall Finishes: 5.545
• Moto First Lap Position: 6.318

Series Points: 371

450 American Outdoors

4) Chase Sexton

• Moto Podiums: 15; (Chase Landed on the Podium in 93% of the Motos he started, He missed 3 rounds throughout the Championship)
• Overall Podiums: 7; (Sexton finished on the overall podium 87% of the time, he competed in 8 rounds of the Championship)

Averages

• Qualifying: 2.25; 2nd best in class
• Moto Finishes: 3rd in Moto 1(2nd best in class) , 2.125 in Moto 2 (2nd best in class)
• Overall Finishes: 2.375; 2nd best in class
• Moto First Lap Position: 4.375; 3rd best in class

Series Points: 338

250 SMX

4) Levi Kitchen

• Moto Podiums: 2
• Moto Wins: 1; Moto 2 in LA
• Moto Laps Led: 29; Most Laps Led in Class

Averages

• Qualifying: 7.667
• Moto Finishes: 6th in Moto 1, 8th in Moto 2
• Overall Finishes: 6.667
• Moto First Lap Position: 6.667

Series Points: 114

450 SMX

4) Cooper Webb

• Moto Podium: 1; Moto 2 at LA
• Overall Podium: 1; LA

Averages

• Qualifying: 7.333
• Moto Finishes: 7th in Moto 1, 5.667 in Moto 2
• Overall Finishes: 6th 
• Moto First Lap Position: 7.5

Series Points: 120

Lead Image: HEP Suzuki

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SCOTT athlete Jo Shimoda was named the 2023 “Prince of Paris” at the weekend after claiming the SX2 overall victory in his factory Honda and Paris supercross racing debuts.

Shimoda was riding on top form, and displayed unmatched speed from the first practice sessions. The HRC rider appeared to be already feeling extremely comfortable on the new Honda CRF250, collecting four wins over the two days of racing and never finishing off the podium.

Lead Image: SCOTT

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