Jorge Prado takes SMX crown
By Team TMX on 28th Sep 26
Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado was crowned 2026 450SMX World Champion at the SMX Final in Ridgedale, Missouri, adding the premier-class SuperMotocross title to the four FIM Motocross World Championships he already had in the trophy cabinet.
After relocating from Spain to the USA for the 2025 season, Prado missed out on the SMX post-season altogether. Twelve months later, having reunited with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and put together a much stronger Supercross and Pro Motocross campaign, he arrived at the three-round SMX playoffs as the number two seed. Three races later, he’s the champ.
Prado qualified third at the expansive Thunder Ridge Nature Arena and came into the final holding the 450SMX red plate, but fifth in the opening moto meant there was still work to do.
Haiden Deegan, who had already taken the first SMX race win in Columbus, was the man standing between Prado and the championship, and when the gate dropped for the second moto the pressure was very much on.
Prado responded in exactly the way you’d expect from a four-time World Champion.
He nailed one of the most important holeshots of his career and then put together 17 controlled laps to take the moto win. His 5-1 scorecard was enough to put him second overall on the night behind Deegan’s 1-1, but more importantly it secured the 2026 450SMX crown by seven points.
Deegan therefore won the final. Prado won the championship.
The 25-year-old’s route to the title had started much earlier in the year, with a solid AMA Supercross campaign producing two podiums, two fastest qualifying times and multiple Heat Race victories. He then backed that up outdoors with five 450MX podiums and fourth in the final Pro Motocross standings, including a 1-1 sweep at Ironman.
Those results earned him the number two seed for SMX and, after finishing third at Playoff 1 in Columbus, he took control of the championship with victory at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. He arrived in Missouri with the red plate and left with the trophy.
“One year ago I wasn’t even racing in the SMX post-season,” said Prado. “The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team did an awesome job preparing me all winter long, every single week, and I also prepared myself the best I could to bounce back.
“That’s what champions do, right? They bounce back, so super-happy about this title – it’s my first championship here in the States. I’m a four-time World Champion for a reason, and I think I showed that in this last moto where it mattered the most!”
