After winning the final round of Pro Motocross at Ironman, Jorge Prado came into the first SMX Playoff round full of confidence. After going 3-4 for third overall in the mud, Prado leaves Columbus with the SMX points lead. His very first time leading the points here in the US means Prado was all smiles at the post-race press conference after a very muddy day in Ohio.

“I can't be in a better spot, leading the SMX championship.  So yes, hopefully I can bring this through the last round. I finished the outdoor season very strong, and hopefully we can end strong also the SuperMotocross season.” Jorge continued, “I think it's kind of crazy to be leading right now the SMX points. But also, the racing was very good for me today. The improvement of getting even lapped twice in a mud supercross race this year to finishing on the podium, it's amazing. So, I'm very happy about the improvement and I'm really looking forward to the next rounds.”

After a lackluster 2025 season, Prado has had a steep learning curve in 2026, finding his groove. Considering he did not even race the SMX Playoffs last year, and as he said, his struggled in the mud in supercross earlier this year, third at the opening round is great. But it also did not come easy, for any of the riders, with the amount of rain that came down and the changes to the schedule. Eventually they had to cancel all practice sessions, which meant the first-time riders hit the track on Saturday was for the main event!

“Yesterday we did ride, but today we went straight into racing. I haven't done that in my life. Like, not even a sighting lap and straight into a main event that counts for points. You know, this is, if you think about it, it's kind of crazy. Luckily enough, we got to ride the track yesterday, so it wasn't as dangerous as if we just started riding it or racing it without even a lap on it. And it's also crazy how fast we all can adapt to a track, right? With only riding it just a few times yesterday and in totally different conditions than today, right? First lap of our main event, we were already hitting everything. It felt like we were riding in the morning. So yeah, it was a challenge to get your mindset to go racing where you've been four hours just on the couch doing nothing and eating and drinking coffee and just chilling there.”

Being able to adapt is key for riders, and adapting is something Prado has been doing a lot of in the last two years. Adapting to American food and culture, different style tracks, different team dynamics, different language, all of these things are just making Prado more resilient. But one thing that has not changed, is how straight forward the Spaniard is. Most riders will try to protect their confidence at all costs by looking at their race in the most positive light. Prado calls it like it is, and when asked if his opening laps were too slow to hang with the top two riders, Haiden Deegan and Ken Roczen, he said:

“I don't think it's even from the opening laps. I just think Haiden and Ken were faster than us, you know?  So, it doesn't matter if it's in the beginning or later in the race, they were just faster all the time. If I start in front and they are faster, they will pass me. It's as simple as that. I think I just had that pace for third place, like I did, and I stick to it. I tried not to make too many mistakes. It was pretty hard with lappers, because, you know, they don't jump pretty much any of the rhythms or the big doubles, so then you can’t go over them, you know?  You gotta like, use your head a little bit and then you lose time, then the guy behind is jumping and is catching you. So, it was kind of hard. It was good to get two good starts. I think that was the key for me today.”

Prado has always been a great starter, but now he has a 450 race win under his belt and is the red plate holder heading into Playoff Round Two. How many more accolades can he add with only two rounds left to go?