The FIM Motocross World Motocross Championship came to a scorching conclusion in southern Spain today at the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha as the 20th and final round of the season saw reigning World Champion Jorge Prado retain his crown with overall victory for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, but he was pushed all the way to the very last race with a final winning margin of just ten points!

From his dominant form in Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Race, the red plate holder made it clear that he had no intention of losing the title on home ground, and with two clear holeshots and scintillating early pace, he fought off the challenge of Team HRC’s Tim Gajser to clinch his fourth World Championship, to the delight of his home fans, although there was a scare for him on the way!

The writing was on the wall for the reigning Champion’s rivals after his clear win in the RAM Qualifying Race on Saturday, although Jeffrey Herlings again showed his pace with the fastest time in the morning Warm-Up session for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

The sheer speed of Prado into the first corner of race one was once more nothing short of breath-taking, and he crossed the Fox Holeshot line on the exit with around five bike lengths on the next rider, Jeremy Seewer, in his last GP for the Kawasaki Racing Team.

Local fans had cause for concern, however, as Gajser immediately snapped past both Seewer and the fast-starting Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Andrea Bonacorsi to get himself up into second place, and the Slovenian started hounding the rear wheel of the Spanish hero.

Coming out of the second corner, Herlings had run wide off the track, and was judged to have gained an advantage as he rejoined, resulting in a three-position penalty. Regardless, he charged through to third position on track by the close, relegated to sixth position by the penalty.

One of the riders he passed was Standing Construct Honda rider Alberto Forato, who fought forward throughout the race, passing Seewer with a strong move at the end of the start straight on lap 14. Sadly for the Italian, he tipped over in a corner on the following lap, allowing Seewer and his Kawasaki Racing Team stablemate Romain Febvre into what was ultimately third and fourth. Forato recovered to be classified in fifth.

Behind the top six were Bonacorsi, Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR rider Valentin Guillod, then Maxime Renaux in ninth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP after a nasty crash in the early laps.  Jan Pancar rounded out the top ten on his TEM JP253 KTM.

At the front, Prado did what he does best, and despite Gajser’s best efforts the Spaniard edged away to build a seven-second lead before easing off in the closing laps to secure his 17th Sunday race win of the campaign and take a 12-point lead into the final race of the year!