Ryan Nitzen | December 1, 2023
Jorge Prado is IN for Supercross! After a two-week tryout here in the States, the defending MXGP World Champion has officially decided to try his hand at the 2024 Supercross season. So far he’s in for the first three rounds, Anaheim 1, San Francisco and San Diego all under the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas tent. “The first three rounds” right? Remember that’s what they said about Ryan Dungey’s return before he opted in for the entire series.
Jorge Prado will race the first three rounds of the 2024 AMA Supercross series. Photos: GasGas
“Since I started riding my dream has always been to one day race in the U.S., specifically to race Supercross,” Prado said. “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.”
Prado spent two weeks testing Supercross right after Motocross of Nations.
Since the MXGP series doesn’t start until March 10, this gives Prado a chance to get some racing under his belt before heading to to Argentina for round one of the MXGP’s. Technically Prado is contracted to race the 2024 MXGP season with GasGas Factory Racing but he’s made it clear his intentions of wanting to come to America, possibly as soon as 2025. This is a rare occurrence that the current MXGP champ comes to Supercross, the last being Tim Gajser racing Monster Cup back in 2017.
Look for the number-111 at A1 under the TLD GasGas tent.
“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.”
Prado is still contracted to race MXGP in 2024.
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!”
