In addition to starting another season, the opening event in Argentina served to confirm that this year the MXGP World Championship promises strong emotions for the Spanish. Jorge Prado he was already there, in the fight for what was important, since his arrival at the queen class, and now he joins Ruben Fernandez after promoting at Honda and having his first official motorcycle. The one from Lugo wears the red leader’s plate, the one from Vigo premieres a trophy as the winner of a grand prize and both arrive as main protagonists in Sardinia.
The Italian island is familiar to many riders who spend the winter there getting in shape and the Riola Sardo circuit as well, as it is the scene of several pre-season races. It is known as ‘La Duna’, which denotes that its main characteristic is the sand, a terrain that Prado likes, as he already said and demonstrated in 2021 by complicating things for Herlings, dubbed ‘the king of the sand’ by many. “He was the guy to beat, I was able to be in front of him for 26 minutes and I counted every one of them. I’m looking forward to it”, says the one from GasGas.
I’m sure he’ll be on the lookout for Herlings, but also for Fernández, who arrives ready and wanting more. “Normally I wouldn’t be so excited to go to Sardinia as it’s not my favorite track, but after winning in Argentina I can’t wait for another race. The support has been incredible and it was a dream come true. This is what you dream of as a child, to be on top of the podium and hear the national anthem playing for you. And now that I’ve lived through it, my goal is to make that happen as many times as possible.” ensures.
The action begins on Saturday with the qualifying race (5:20 p.m. Spanish time), in which Prado hopes to take advantage as in Argentina: “This new system is very special, you have to be constant and I think that It’s something that will help me win more points, since I’m good at short races.” Those 10 points gave him the lead, but the victory of the grand prix is at stake in the two sleeves on Sunday (14:15 and 17:10, in RTVE Play and Eurosport). Two points separate the Spanish with Febvre (+6), Herlings (+9) and Renaux (+10) on the lookout.
This is how the World Cup goes
Guillén and Seisdedos start the WMX
Sardinia will also act as a starting point for the WMX, the Women’s World Cup, in which two Spaniards, Daniela Guillen and Gabriela Seisdedos, They aspire to important goals. The two will race with GasGas after scoring the 2022 Motocross of Nations and have been preparing thoroughly in France, on a circuit similar to that of Riola Sardo to start the year on the right foot. “I am physically and mentally prepared to contest the victory of all the races”, says Daniela, while Gabriela hopes “to be able to compete in good condition” after hurting her hand during training.