After qualifying fastest at the Seattle round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Jorge Prado then went down hard in the second qualifying session (his time from the first session still held). Prado separated his shoulder in the crash and sat out that night in Seattle, as well as both the Arlington and Daytona rounds. Prado returned for the Indianapolis Triple Crown and fought through the pain in the deep ruts to finish sixth overall. Top five starts in all three races helped his consistent finishes. After the race Steve Matthes caught up with Jorge to see how his shoulder was feeling, and more.
Racer X: Jorge Prado, welcome back. This is a tough one to come back to. I wouldn't have blamed you if you took one extra week, but, how was it for you?
Jorge Prado: Well, I think it was a very, very solid day for me. Three P6 in the main events. I think it's super solid. Good starts, nothing crazy, riding was okay. I think for how my body was today, I think I did a very good job. So, no mistakes. Going back home safe. I think it was a good decision to come and, yeah, good experience.
Shoulder okay through that whole thing or was it bugging you late? The races are shorter, but late in the race, was it bugging you?
I think it was just something super consistent. I never felt like my body was 100 percent today, obviously, but I already expected that. Basically, my shoulder is fine. I just have an AC separation and then some inflammation around the ribs and on my back. So, this is actually what's causing me the biggest issue, the pain. A little bit weak also on my right arm because of all that. So, yeah, happy to get one weekend off to regroup, get hopefully healed 100 percent for Birmingham.
Have you ever seen anything like that for Supercross, for indoors? Did it surprise you how bad it got, or what did you think?
I mean, no, because I never raced east. So, it's the first time I raced these kinds of tracks, but I like them. You gotta be careful with the ruts. You can go over the bars very easy, but I think it makes it very challenging, and I like it. I like these tracks.
A lot of guys talked about the lappers tonight, short lap times, and they were struggling with the ruts. How was it for you?
I think it was hard for everyone. Sometimes I think they should move a little bit quicker, but I mean, everybody was struggling. Sometimes I was like, 'Oh, it's taking a lot for me to pass this guy,' but then the guy behind also struggled with him. So, I was in a different position than maybe the guys up front. When you're battling for a win and it's so hard to make a difference on this type of track because the lap is so short, and then you have a lapper, and then you lose so much, then the guy comes close to you with a chance of passing, then it's different. You're in a different position. So, I mean, it's part of the race. It also happened to me back in MXGP in the sand. Sometimes I would be leading and then with the lappers, you know, lose a lot of seconds. So, it's part of the game and yeah, if you are not good with lappers in my case, I need to try to get by them quickly.
Last question. Did you watch the MXGP race qualifier race today?
I just follow a little bit the results. And that's it.
Tom Vialle.
Tom Vialle, yeah P1. Then we have the two KTMs second and third. So, yeah, I think nice start to the MXGP. Very different. I think no one expected Tom to go P1, especially because in practice, for example, Jeffrey [Herlings] was fastest. But, well, I think it's going to be exciting for them. (Herlings would go 1-1 for the win on Sunday in Argentina while Tom Vialle would go 2-4 for third.)
