The withdrawal of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass from this weekend’s MX2 World Championship finale at Imola in Italy has ultimately granted teammate Jorge Prado the 2018 crown.

Last year’s champion Jonass sustained an ACL injury at the MXGP of Turkey that required surgery, however he endeavoured to line up at Assen in an effort to keep his title hopes alive.

With the points deficit growing to 46 points behind Prado in the rankings, the Latvian elected to sit out this weekend’s grand prix in favour of repairing the damage and undergoing immediate surgery.

“After Turkey I had some tough times,” said Jonass. “The doctors actually told me not to race any more this year but I didn’t want to give up on the title so easily. I raced in Assen with a lot of pain and so went to see the doctor again afterwards and they said surgery was necessary. We came to Germany and had the operation yesterday here at Ortema and I’m very grateful for the work done by Dr Richter.

“The ACL was not completely torn but it was badly damaged. It is a pity to miss Imola but health comes first and I’m still young and want to think about the future. The focus now goes on my rehab and to think about getting back on the bike as soon as possible to prepare for MXGP.”

Prado now becomes the first Spanish rider to earn a world championship in the two major categories in the history of the motocross world championship.