Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team rider Jo Shimoda went 1-1 this past weekend at the 2023 Ironman National. This definitely was not an easy task, given that all season long there had been so much back and forth in the 250 class. Battles for the podium were ongoing, and the title was up in the air for quite a long time. However, on Saturday, Shimoda prevailed, giving spectators two of his best motos.
Fans of Jo have been long awaiting his reign, and the talent is there. He’s fast. That’s no secret. Next season will be an interesting one. Will Jo be able to show out earlier in the season and find consistency in his riding?
See what Shimoda had to say in the post-race press conference.
Jo, tell us about your week. You had quite a week. Last week I was actually on the airplane with you, and I know that you got into San Diego very, very late at night. You had to wait for your mom to come pick you up. It was just kind of a crazy week for you, then you come here at Ironman Raceway and have kind of a magical day. Tell us about your week and what led up to this race.
Jo Shimoda: Yeah, sorry about missing the press conference last week, trying to beat the hurricane. Just the whole day, you wake up at 6 a.m. to go to the track. That day after we got done racing, I just went straight to the airport. Got home 3 a.m. with the East Coast time. I feel like I didn’t sleep for 24 hours. It was a tough flight. But all is fine.
How much practicing did you do all week? Were you ready to go?
Yes. All week I was very sleepy. Monday sleepy, Tuesday I was sleepy. I basically did five laps at Glen Helen and then that was it for the week. Worked out great for today.
Maybe that’s a magic formula. Just five laps of practice during the week and come here and dominate with a 1-1. I talked to you briefly earlier, but were you aware that Kawasaki has won a race since 1981 every single season, either supercross or motocross, and this was the first season that Kawasaki had not won a race? It looked like you saved the brand at the final round. Are you aware of that record?
Yeah. I didn’t know that, actually. My mechanic told me after the race. They’ve been working so hard for me, so it’s nice to bring something to the table for them. I’m grateful. It’s probably good for them, too.
You qualified fifth today, but when you have to look on the track to see who was the fastest rider, it would be hard to argue that you weren’t the fastest rider. So, how seriously do you try to be the fastest qualifier, or is it that, to you, it doesn’t really seem to matter? Looking at riders, let’s say Hunter Lawrence doesn’t seem to care as much about that. Jett Lawrence seems to always care about it. Just everybody is different. Tell us your approach to qualifying and how important it is for you to try to be the fastest qualifier.
Every time I go to the track, I care about everything. I think it’s nice to have the fastest qualifier, it kind of sets the tone. But mostly I try to have a nice result for having good gate picks. That’s the thing I’m focused on.
Are you excited about the new SuperMotocross [World Championship]? Are you looking forward to that first round coming up at ZMAX Raceway?
Yeah. Any race that I go to, I treat it as the same. So, if I go to the race, for sure I’ll try to do my best. That’s not going to change for me.
Starting with Southwick, you were good, strong, steady up until then. You’ve become even stronger since. Is that just getting into the rhythm? Coming back from injury. Did it take a couple of rounds to get into that podium contention form every week?
For sure, towards the end of the season I think the bike setup—I found something on the bike. That was getting better and better each race. Around Southwick, that was a little bit of my turning point for me. Since then, I feel like I could ride more like myself and that helped me a lot, for sure.
Do you subscribe to the theory of momentum? And is this going to help you in the SuperMotocross playoffs?
Yeah. It’s kind of crazy because you can create the confidence just in a day. If you go out there just riding around on a track first lap and sometimes you just feel good, and that boosts a little bit. I felt like I could do it today on the gate. With that, just to get a start helped me a lot.
Unlike in 450s, in 250s it has been hard to come by 1-1s. After winning the first moto today, did you feel any extra pressure going into moto two? When you got the lead, did you feel it coming?
No, not really. In my mind today honestly, I forgot about the championship. It’s the last race, too. I came into the track today having a nice breakfast, just good vibes all day. My goal was to just stay chill, have fun, and really just enjoy this environment and racing. I guess that turned out to be pretty good.
You guys all got good starts today, and the last couple of races have been like that. Did they find more power a couple races ago because you guys have been much better lately?
Two or three guys get a good start, some guys get a good start in some rounds, but today for some reason everybody got a good start. Something worked, I guess.
The bike didn’t necessarily get faster halfway through the year or something?
No, it’s the same engine and stuff. Everybody probably knows, but I've had pretty bad starts. I’m not that good [of a starter], really. But today for some reason, everybody had it.
You won motos last year. You won overalls last year in Pro Motocross. We know you had the supercross injury that kept you out for a lot of the season. Did you have any pressure for yourself to win an overall, to win a moto this summer?
No, no pressure really. I’ll go to the race with the same mentality, treat every race the same way. For sure it’s nice to win, but after injury, the fitness and the speed, you can build this pretty quick. Just those small doubts in your head it was so hard for me to get rid of. Always if you’re at the fast speeds I feel like, “I don't want to go on the ground again,” and I would just let off a little bit. But race by race, I got rid of that. I hope we’re back.
We talked yesterday before the race. You kind of like this track. You said you’ve had good finishes here before and some good battles. Is it something about the layout of the track, the dirt of the track? Just good vibes here?
Honestly, I don’t mind racing anywhere, any place. My first goal is to just get a start, and that changes the whole thing and today I had it.
The 1-1. Just talk about putting it all together in one day instead of just here and there. Good qualifying, good starts, moto win. Then repeat that. Just talk a bit about that.
Yeah. You can build a day from having a good qualifying and that puts you into a good spot. Just executing on the first couple laps is the most important thing, especially outdoors. Supercross, too. That’s kind of my missing piece sometimes. It’s nice to have that today.
