Jorge Prado secured his first postseason victory at the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoff 2, holding off intense competition at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider extended his points lead with a consistent 2-2 performance in the 450SMX Class, whilst teammate Julien Beaumer dominated the 250SMX division to complete a KTM sweep.
With double points on the line, the penultimate round delivered dramatic racing under Southern California sunshine, a stark contrast to the rain-soaked opener.
In the opening 450SMX moto, Prado grabbed the holeshot but came under immediate pressure from Ken Roczen, who charged through the field on his Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki. The German rider made an aggressive pass just before halfway and opened a gap exceeding two seconds. Prado closed back in during the final laps whilst navigating lapped traffic, but Roczen held firm to take the moto win by 1.3 seconds. Haiden Deegan finished third, with Hunter Lawrence fourth.
The second moto proved even more chaotic. Lawrence took the holeshot and built a commanding lead exceeding three seconds. Prado’s charge was interrupted by a crash in the sand section, dropping him to fourth. As he fought back through the field, Deegan moved into second before also going down in the sand. The incident triggered contact with Roczen and Cooper Webb, shuffling the order dramatically.
Lawrence cruised to a dominant 14.9-second moto victory, whilst Prado recovered for second. The Spaniard’s 2-2 scorecard secured the overall by a single point over Lawrence (4-1) and Roczen (1-4), who tied for second with Lawrence claiming the tiebreaker. Deegan’s 3-3 finishes left him fourth overall despite two podium motos.
Prado now leads the championship by 16 points over both Deegan and Lawrence heading into the triple-points finale.
In the 250SMX Class, Beaumer delivered wire-to-wire perfection in the opening moto, holding off Ryder DiFrancesco and Drew Adams. Points leader Levi Kitchen crashed whilst running fifth and recovered to seventh.
The second moto saw Beaumer secure another holeshot, but Cole Davies crashed hard from second, collecting DiFrancesco in the process. Kitchen capitalised on the chaos, passing Beaumer for the lead and cruising to his first postseason moto win. Jo Shimoda charged to second, whilst DiFrancesco recovered brilliantly for fifth.
Beaumer’s 1-3 results secured his first Playoff victory, a remarkable achievement just one year after suffering a broken back. DiFrancesco’s late-race pass earned him second overall (2-5), whilst Kitchen rounded out the podium (7-1) and maintained a three-point championship lead.
In the SMX Next World All-Stars division, Kade Johnson clinched the championship with a runner-up finish behind race winner Ryder Malinoski.
The SMX World Championship Final takes place on 26 September at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri, with triple points deciding both titles.
Photo: Red Bull KTM Media
