MX2: With Prado Gone, the Pressures on

Matterley Basin plays host to the British MXGP this weekend, and in the MX2 class the departure of last year’s champion, Jorge Prado, means everything is wide open.

2019 was dominated in the MX2 category by now double world champion Prado aboard his Red Bull KTM, but his forced ascension to the MXGP category now means that those who were queued up behind the Spaniard for much of last season will have their shot at the top step in 2020, and possibly the championship. 

The favourite out of those riders will likely be Thomas Kjer Olsen, who was the dominant winner last season in Matterley Basin, winning the first race by more than four seconds ahead of Henri Jacobi – who has also moved to MXGP – and the second race by almost ten seconds. Indeed by the end of the season it was Olsen who finished as second-best to Prado, over 80 points ahead of third-placed Jago Geerts. 

Geerts himself had a strong 2019, completing the rare achievement of winning a moto in which Prado was present, which the Belgian achieved in France, going 1-2 for second overall. 

The only other time Prado was beaten in 2019 was when he finished fourth behind Calvin Vlaanderen, Tom Vialle and Adam Sterry in the second moto in Uddevalla. Of those three riders, only Vialle – Prado’s 2019 teammate and Red Bull KTM’s senior MX2 rider in 2020 – remains in the junior GP category for this year. Being part of that setup brings pressure, but Vialle had a promising debut GP campaign in 2019, and is the only rider in the class in 2020 other than Olsen who has won a GP, that coming in Uddevalla. That said, Vialle is still without a moto win, and could probably do with getting that chip off his shoulder at the opener this weekend in Matterley, where last year he took both holeshots in what was just his second Grand Prix appearance. 

The home crowd will have Ben Watson to get behind this weekend, with the factory Yamaha rider now one of the most experienced riders in the class, and undoubtedly ranked amongst the championship contenders ahead of the start of the season. Consistency seemed to be an issue for Watson in 2019, but when the speed was there it was there in abundance. Going in to this season, it seems as though the top five or six spots are quite interchangeable assuming everyone is fit and healthy, so being consistently on the podium will be a challenge for everyone, but jumping up on the box this weekend at his home GP would be a great way for Watson to begin his campaign.

Watson will not be the only rider for the British fans to get behind in the 250 class this weekend, with Conrad Mewse, Josh Gilbert, Taylor Hammal and Tom Grimshaw all also representing the union flag.

There is also an influx of exciting rookies this year in MX2, with the likes of 2019 EMX250 champion Roan van de Moosdijk, as well as runner-up to van de Moosdijk, Stephen Rubini, third-placed 2019 EMX250 rider Alberto Forato and fourth-placed EMX250 rider of last year, Rene Hofer, all making the step up to the junior Grand Prix category for 2020. 

Finally, there is also a lot of interest ahead of this season surrounding the French duo of Mathys Boisrame and Maxime Renaux. The former showed good speed at times in 2019, but needs to match that with some consistency this term, whilst the latter’s form picked up substantially in the final part of last season, finishing every moto from Belgium moto one to China moto two inside the top seven. If Renaux can continue along that same line, he can be a real factor in 2020.