JO SHIMODA GRIT-229 250MX

JO SHIMODA | GRIT-229 | 250MX

The number thirty of Jo Shimoda was a legitimate contender for victory as round number nine came to fruition on Saturday, as the rider from Japan had firmly declared his sense of speed and talent atop the leaderboard amongst numerous rounds prior. Therefore few were surprised as he claimed fifth in the practice standing(s), leading to a top-five start (as well) for the first moto of the afternoon. Shimoda's ability to track to the outside of numerous corners was rather daring, but one that possessed incredible speed(s) in the first fifteen-minute of action. After only being passed by Haiden Deegan, the Kawasaki rider would do his best to move around the rookie once and for all - though the number 238 was riding extremely well on his own behalf. This would lead to lap eleven, where Shimoda was able to secure the fifth-place position with Seth Hammaker being overtaken -with Jo's sights now set on passing Maximus Vohland. That goal was finalized on the next circuit, with Shimoda now in fourth on the twelfth-lap, while watching Haiden Deegan who was just ahead...but with misfortune occurring to the Yamaha rider, Shimoda was then in a position to acquire third as the number 238 was forced to exit the raceway. Once here, Jo would remain resilient with the final podium position, and ultimately crossed the finish-line here as the moto concluded. For the second round of racing, Shimoda would overcome the series of delays to acquire third, just behind Ryder DiFrancesco. He could see Justin Cooper moving forward, and had Levi Kitchen right alongside him as they weaved their way through the first few minutes of action. Shimoda refused to give in, and was hitting his lines with superb momentum despite the grooves being filled with acceleration bumps - and after less than six minutes had transpired, Jo had solidified his claim for the runner-up category, overtaking his teammate with his vision now set on Justin Cooper who was ahead. But the number thirty-two was riding at an extremely impressive rate...and Hunter Lawrence was on the move was well; which eventually had to be acknowledged by the Kawasaki rider as Lawrence sped to the outside on the furthest straightaway from the starting gate. The slight elevation change, coupled with countless ruts, would enable Hunter to slide from right to left and into the main line of the corner that followed...pushing Lawrence into the second-place standing, with Jo now third. And for twenty-minutes, that's exactly the stance in which Shimoda would claim...never fading from the rear wheel of the Honda rider. In fact, a daring outside pass was almost made by that of Shimoda in the last corner! So with the race concluding and athletes crossing the finish-line, Jo had done enough to secure third...finalized in fourth overall, for round nine of the 250cc classification.

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