Spaniard Jorge Prado’s second podium finish of the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross season at Salt Lake City marked another major step forward in his transition to American competition after a challenging year prior. In this Conversation feature, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider reflects on factoring toward the front at the finale, adapting to the intensity of 450SX, and more.

Image: Octopi Media.

Jorge, it’s been a great season. I know you were out for a couple of rounds with injury, but outside of that it’s been a phenomenal year. To finish the season the same way it started with a podium, what are the emotions right now?

Yeah, it’s been a pretty cool Supercross season for me. I’m very happy to make it to the end. Obviously starting in Anaheim with a podium, my expectations were high all year long, but I knew it was going to be a learning curve. We had some really good moments and some tougher moments, but at the end of the day we got to the final round and put ourselves back on the box with a great ride. I’m very proud of myself, the work I put in every day and also the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team. They’ve put in a lot of work with me at the test track, trying to make the bike more comfortable for me as I continue getting faster. We even made some changes this week and they paid off today. It’s all about learning. I learned so much this year. To be honest, I thought the transition from MXGP to Supercross was going to be a little easier, but Supercross is a whole different world. So no, I’m super proud to put myself on the podium.

The last couple of rounds you’ve had some battles with Cooper Webb and then you beat him today. Over the finish line we even saw the look back. Is a rivalry starting to form between you two?

I mean, I’m always the guy getting taken out. I’ve never taken him out, so he’s been pretty aggressive with me. Like I said the other weekend, if he has 20 minutes plus one lap, or 30 minutes plus a lap to pass me, and he always decides to go aggressive, then if he was much faster he would’ve passed me like the other riders did. I just focus on myself and hopefully next year I’m a bit better so I don’t need to be fighting with him and can be further up front.

Image: Octopi Media.

Early in the race you started catching Kenny [Roczen] and Hunter [Lawrence] out front. How difficult was that situation knowing you had the speed to be there, but not wanting to interfere with their championship battle?

I was actually in a hard position because I didn’t want to interfere in their championship, but at the same time I’d never ridden that comfortably before. I didn’t want to make an aggressive pass or interfere with their race. They were fighting for the championship after so many rounds and I didn’t want to be the rider that messed things up. I caught them and honestly didn’t really know what to do. I was putting some pressure on Hunter and then he made a mistake. Chase [Sexton] got really close to us as well and made a pass, and I tried to follow him. I lost a bit of time with the lappers and then Justin [Cooper] got around me too. It was difficult because when I caught Hunter and Kenny I was in a really good flow, but I kind of messed it up and broke my rhythm. It’s part of racing though and I need to learn to be better in those situations. Still, I’m happy with my riding.

We saw you go up to Kenny after the race and even bow down to him a little bit. What were you saying to him and how do you feel about his championship win?

Kenny has always been one of my idols. I’m from Spain and grew up racing GPs, and when I joined the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in 2011, that was the year he won the MX2 World Championship. I always looked up to him. Then obviously his story with the huge injury, coming back from that and now winning a Supercross Championship, it’s amazing. He really deserves this championship. I was super happy for him. I’m also really happy to see another European rider make it work here in the States. Hopefully I’m the next one.

Image: Octopi Media.

Those final laps were crazy. Kenny started dropping back and you were battling Chase, Webb and Justin. Could you even keep track of what was happening?

Honestly, it was crazy. My mechanic put five laps on the pit board and then suddenly I saw the white flag. Cooper was right behind me and when you have Cooper there, you really want to protect the inside because he’s always sneaking underneath you. But then you mess up the next section and it keeps going like that. We got into the final few corners and I was looking left and right because he was always there. It was really intense. I really wanted to get on the podium and luckily I got a good drive through the whoops. In the last corner I stayed really tight and he tried to push straight into me, but he couldn’t make it happen. It was a crazy finish. Lately the last parts of these races have been pretty wild.

Looking back on this season, with the speed and podiums you’ve shown, does it validate your decision to leave MXGP and move to Supercross and SMX?

I knew it was going to be a challenge, but like I said before, I thought it was going to be less of a change. Supercross is very different to outdoors and because I raced outdoors for so long, it was actually difficult to adapt to Supercross, especially when you’re racing against the best riders in the world. I really needed this whole year to become more comfortable on these tracks, especially when riding in between other riders. Even understanding the lines they’re taking has been different and sometimes I still can’t fully understand it. But I’m doing my best to learn every single race and I think it’s paying off. So yeah, next year I’ll be much more prepared.