Jo Shimoda Set for 2023 Debut at This Weekend’s Atlanta SX
After a broken collarbone back in late January sidelined Jo Shimoda for the majority of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, the #30 is set to make his debut this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta Motor Speedway will host the 13th round (of 17) this weekend, which will be the seventh 250SX East Region race of the season. Shimoda was set to race the 250SX East Region initially but suffered a broken collarbone while training. He returned to riding in early March and is now set for his first AMA gate drop since the 2022 AMA Pro Motocross Championship finale at Fox Raceway at Pala.
Shimoda will be alongside Chris Blose this weekend, as Blose continues to be a fill-in for the injury depleted team that lost Jett Reynolds (out for supercross as he delt with wrist injury from 2022), Seth Hammaker (broken arm a day before Shimoda’s injury), Austin Forkner (knee injury at the Anaheim 1 SX opener), Supercross Futures rider Ryder DiFrancesco (sidelined for a few months with a torn thumb ligament), and now Cameron McAdoo (shoulder injury while practicing last week).
Carson Mumford was also brought in as a fill-in, as Blose went to the 250SX East Region and Mumford the 250SX West Region.
Shimoda claimed one 250SX main event podium finish in 2022 en route to fourth in the 250SX West Region standings. In his three supercross seasons to date, the Japanese native has finished inside the top five of all three championships (third in 2020 250SX East; second in 2021 250SX East; and fourth in 2022 250SX West).
Shimoda has become a consistent podium and race winning threat and was a preseason championship contender before his injury. But it is good to see Shimoda will in fact race supercross this season, even though the AMA Pro Motocross Championship start is just over one month’s time. However, with the all-new SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Shimoda could earn points in these final few 250SX East Region races that help him in the SMX standings.
The following press release is from Kawasaki:
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki Welcomes Back Shimoda in Atlanta
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Blose will be joined by Jo Shimoda for the first time this season at Round 7 of the Monster Energy Supercross 250SX Eastern Regional Championship at Atlanta Motor Speedway for a day race inside the speedway. Blose has been finding his form over the first part of the season, collecting his season-best of fifth at the last eastern region round a month ago.
It will be a welcomed treat to have two riders again under the tent, with Shimoda making his 2023 debut. He’s familiar with the Atlanta Motor Speedway from last season and hopes it will be a good place to gain momentum. Blose has been the sole representative in the Eastern Region so far this season and has shown he can rise to the challenge. Blose has found more and more speed each week, eventually racing to a season-best - nearly matching his career-best of fourth - which is part of his goals for the season.
Iain Southwell, Team Manager:
“We are very happy to welcome back Jo after he had a little hiccup before the season started. He will be working hard to fight for a top spot, but we know he’ll likely need to knock off some cobwebs. Blose continued to ride well over the break, and we are really pushing for him to meet or beat his career-best this weekend.”
