Jorge Prado celebrated his first MX2 career victory while teammate Pauls Jonass wrestled the Red Plate from Jeremy Seewer at the fifth round of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship.

As per usual this season, 16-year-old Jorge Prado was in direct contention for the holeshot in both motos in the MX2 class on his KTM 250 SX-F in Trentino, Italy.

The Spaniard was just pipped by Jonass in the first race and the two teammates set the pace at the front of a static moto with LRT KTM’s Julien Lieber following in third place.

Advertisement

Jonass claimed his fifth chequered flag of the year while Prado bagged his third top three result.

The second moto again saw the starting superiority of the SX-F come to the fore – once more #61 and #41 spearheaded the pack into the tight first turns. Prado forged an early advantage as Jonass – who had been searching for speed and comfort on Saturday – chose not to take too many risks.

Through the back-markers, the distance between the pair narrowed and the Red Bull KTM team witnessed a tense match-off. Prado eventually held strong to capture the chequered flag and the first GP win for Spain since 2009 and the first ever in MX2 – accomplished in the teenager’s eighth Grand Prix. With second position, Jonass is now the leader of the MX2 table by nine points over Jeremy Seewer.

Watch: Possibly the best race in MXGP history – 2017 Trentino Grand Prix highlights

See also: 2017 Trentino Grand Prix Race Results

See also: KTM reflect on Tony Cairoli’s incredible day in Italy

“I never imagined to have such a good race here and I’m a little lost for words at the moment,” admitted Prado. “I knew a good result was possible after yesterday but to win? That’s really difficult. This is the result of a big pre-season and many years of work: to get to this point that we could win a Grand Prix. Only the best win here [in GP] so I’m really happy with my work today.”

Jonass offered: “I didn’t feel good on Saturday and during the night I was thinking about the changes I could make on the bike and we made a few little alterations on the suspension and it worked out well.

“It helped to get the first moto holeshot and then just focus on myself and ride my own lines.

“In the second moto I was again good at the start but Jorge pulled away in the first laps and I got a rhythm going and managed to catch him. It was really difficult to pass here and I couldn’t make it happen. I also didn’t want to make a mistake. I’m happy with second today because after Saturday I thought a top 10 would be good!”

Commenting on the weekend, MX2 Team Manager, Dirk Gruebel, said: “It didn’t look like it would turn out that way yesterday!

“Pauls struggled a bit with his arm but today he totally turned it around, rode really well and didn’t risk anything in the second heat.

“About our ‘youngster’ – to win his very first GP on hard-pack is pretty surprising and I’m really proud of him. Jorge withstood all the pressure and his riding was outstanding – big props.”