Image: Octopi Media.

Progress made during the three-week break in Pro Motocross saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado able to deliver the type of form at Unadilla that he compared to his title-winning speed previously displayed in MXGP.

The four-time world champion indicated that he worked with the team to point his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION’s settings back toward what he had been accustomed to in Europe, rather than the US-based set-up they had been pursuing.

That change in direction helped the 25-year-old take a significant step forward at round nine of the 2026 season, with his P2 finish overall highlighted by added intensity and a reduced gap to the Lawrence brothers.

“It was nice to battle again for wins and getting back to real speed,” explained Prado. “I was very happy about my performance today. During the break, we made some changes to the bike that I was quite convinced was going to make a difference, but you never know until you go racing.

“It already showed in practice when I was already feeling good and it did again at the races. I’m very happy and the whole Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team put a good effort during the week to make things happen.

“Probably back in ’24, it’s when I was back in MXGP, that’s when I felt I had this kind of speed. I think today, in that second moto, we really showed – Jett [Lawrence] and myself – that we pulled away from everyone, so we had great speed out there.

“I’d been riding a bike back in Europe that I raced and that I trained [on] for a lot of years and developed riding outdoors, and then this year we started with more like an American set-up.

“Now, we went back a little bit more into that older set-up and that was actually working. We tried that, and it definitely made a good step in the right direction. [The team] also came up with some stuff, so we made that old set-up even better.

“The whole combination of everything, we are again competitive and fighting for wins. This is also my first year with KTM here in the US – we’ve got to learn each other, and we are doing it this year, and hopefully next year we bring that with a new bike that’s coming as well.”

Red Bull KTM began experimenting with Prado’s set-up following the Washougal National, where he finished around one minute behind the leaders in both motos, before narrowing that margin to within 10-15 seconds at Unadilla – underscored by setting the fastest lap-time in moto two.

“The thing why we didn’t go that direction is because 99 percent of the KTM riders are in a whole different set-up,” he continued. “We started with that and [I’m] that one percent that needs something different. The good thing is that [the team] also understood that we could get better.

“That’s what we need as a team – we only want to get better. We got here to Unadilla, and we are back fighting for wins, so that’s super-positive for me. And thanks also to them because they’re open-minded… They said, ‘Okay, if you’re that one percent, let’s try it.’”

Prado currently sits fourth in the 450MX standings with two rounds remaining, with the Budds Creek National next on the schedule this weekend. He also recently signed a multi-year contract extension with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing that will span through 2027 and 2028.