Jorge Prado on Move Red Bull KTM: “I feel like I have all the tools to achieve my goals”

Simon Cudby was on hand yesterday for the Red Bull KTM team intro for the 2026 Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). While Julien Beaumer (250SMX) and Aaron Plessinger (450SMX) both returned from the '25 roster, the team welcomed two new faces in Eli Tomac and Jorge Prado. Cudby gathered some quotes from each rider in a video (posted at the end of this article) so we transcribed some of the quotes for this article. Here is what Prado had to say about getting back onto a familiar equipment, a return to the KTM program, his motivation for '26, and more.

Prado has had significant changes to his program in the last two years. After two MX2 titles and two MXGP titles over in the FIM Motocross World Championship in Europe, the Spanish native signed a three-year deal with Monster Energy Kawasaki for the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). Unfortunately, he only made two rounds of 450SX until a qualifying crash re-injured a shoulder injury from previous years, requiring surgery and sidelining him until the start of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Prado had high expectations for his first season of Pro Motocross in the USA, and rightfully so.

But things did not work out as he thought they would. Then, the relationship with Kawasaki became tainted when his effort was in question towards the end of the summer. Prado sat out of the SMX Playoffs and in mid-October Kawasaki released him from his contract after just one year. Yesterday, Prado was officially introduced as a new member of the Red Bull KTM program alongside Tomac and Plessinger.

Prado raced his entire MX2 career with KTM then made the switch to the switch to the GasGas MXGP effort ahead of his third full 450 season in 2022. He then won the title in 2023 and 2024. So, the question became could Prado return to his MXGP form now that he is on familiar equipment? Yesterday, Prado told Cudby the ’26 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition bike is essentially the same GasGas MC 450F Factory Edition he raced to the 2024 MXGP title.

“Well, the difference between the bike that I raced back in ‘24 [MXGP] compared to the bike we are racing right now here, it's pretty much nothing,” Prado said. “I actually rode with this bike outdoors one day and it felt exactly like my bike I raced back in ’24. So, yeah, we could even put my suspension setup from the World Championship into it and felt completely fine. So, yeah, the bike is really ready to race.”