Jo Shimoda or Jo Shimoto? The #30 plate took the overall 250 class win this weekend at zMAX Dragway in the first ever SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoff event, further strengthening his momentum on the green machine after a slow start to his AMA Pro Motocross Championship season. After climbing through the ranks all season long, Jo's efforts have begun to pay off, as he went 1-1 at the motocross finale at Ironman Raceway as well. Proving his power and potential, Shimoda maintains a positive attitude going into every weekend, eager for more racing.
He talked about it all in the post-race press conference.
Jo, excellent run. Tough season in supercross. Until the last round of motocross, kind of a hard season there. Some injuries you were facing, didn’t get a lot of rounds in. Nice redemption here to go 1-1 at the final pro motocross round and then take the first overall here. You said on the podium you didn’t even know you had the overall. How exciting was it to figure that out? When did they tell you? Right when you got off?
Jo Shimoda: Yeah, it’s hard to do 4-1 for a good overall, so I was thinking maybe 2nd or 3rd, but just heard I got the overall so I was super stoked. We only have three rounds, so it’s really nice to start the first race really good. That’s what I was looking for. Thanks to the people behind me.
Talk about the gate selection. I believe you went into the right gate. Talk about your approach, why you picked that gate and the start.
I just felt a little more comfortable on the left side of the gate. Nothing really, just simply that.
The split lane, taking the outside or the inside over the under bridge, obviously was an advantage at some points. The track seemed like it was hard to pass. How much of that was to an advantage behind one of you guys and being able to take that split lane and hit some clean air to make a pass?
I think the split lane was pretty equal to me. Even first moto, they started adding these little bumps on the lip on the right side. I was just taking under the tunnel in both motos. I felt a little bit more comfortable there. So, I felt they were equal, so I just took the line where I felt a little more comfortable to charge on.
The second moto you were behind Tom Vialle. What change did you do? We know that the track was too tight, hard to pass, but what did you do that you knew you could win this second race?
Actually me and Tom were talking about this after the race. The track is so fast you kind of want to make an aggressive move, but at the same time everybody has an equal pace. So you don’t want to take a chance to take both riders out where you make that mistake and lose second place. I tried to be patient. The race is long. So finding where I’m better at, and maybe if I can get closer and make a move. I tried to consciously think about that while racing.
Can you evaluate the style of the track? Is it kind of what you thought it might be? Is it more supercrossy, more motocrossy? What are you looking forward to for the next two weeks?
Definitely the second track looks more outdoors and longer. I did expect to be fast, and there was going to be a lot of check-up jumps. But I think we all had fun.
Now three moto wins in the last four races. Can you start to think of yourself as the rider to beat, or just going to take it one week at a time?
I’m going to take it one race at a time or even one session. I think obviously it’s neat to get those points, but the first thing is to bring your full potential to the race. So I think that’s the focus.
You single-handedly stepped up at the last round of the outdoor nationals and prevented Kawasaki from going winless. You’ve got a lot of momentum now. Tell us your plans for this week going into Chicago.
Definitely feels good. If I can bring this flow nicely into the next race, it’ll be awesome. I’m just super stoked about today because you want to start your season on a good note, but I’ve been struggling to do that. Next race is the next race.
Toward the second half of the motocross championship, Mitch Payton mentioned big progression with the motorcycle. Has that been something you’ve noticed and been able to take with you in the last few weeks?
Yeah, we changed something right before the outdoors season. We struggled halfway through. Just needed to go through a lot of things, but halfway through it got better and better. Honestly, I felt really good the last two rounds of the outdoors. Now I feel like Pro Circuit are getting good starts and the guys are running up more toward the front. It’s a good improvement we made.
Obviously you had a good line in that long sweeper before the supercross turn in the second race. That’s where you were getting really close to Tom. A couple of times you almost had the pass made. Were there other sections of the track that you were thinking about eyeing a pass, or did you know that’s where you were gaining on him and that’s where you were going to make the pass? What separated you a little bit in the back section of the track? Talk about did you know that was where you were going to pass him at and the line selection there.
Yes, I knew I had a good line there, but like I said, I try to avoid conflict with other riders. Everybody is so close. I just don’t want to get passed trying to make moves. That was the right place to do it. So, it was good.
