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Edited Date/Time
1/6/2024 5:32pm
What happened to Shimoda in the 250 heat race? He wound up 9th with nobody behind him but unknowns! I figured he’d step up as the HRC 250 wonder boy.
Had a crash. It happens.
He needs to be more aggressive early in the race
Washed the front in the 180 before the first set of whoops.
Rushed a pass and went down. First heat of the season, no big deal.
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Truth.
A touch to aggressive with a wet track
I looked like the same corner kitchen crashed in, weege said one of the corners stays wet because its always shaded by part of the stadium, id guess its prob that corner.
No. Kitchen crashed in the turn prior to the long rhythm section. Jo crashed at the one at the end.
Wonder if he took out Stapleton because he looked pissed…
Finding a recent thread so I don't have to start one. So what's the verdict? Was it a good move for Jo (green to red)?
It’s only been what, 5/6 races? I think it’s a bit early to tell. I’ll wait to see how he does outdoors before I decide.
Like @Sully said, I’ll reserve my opinion until we’re into the Outdoors.
Someone in another threat last week wrote that it was a pretty bad move because even if he performs good from now on, there probably won't be an open slot on a 450 Honda as long as the Hunter brothers are present while he could have probably get an 450 Kawi ride. I thought that was pretty spot on. He is very talented, hopefully this move won't result in a long ass 250 career path..
It would be impossible to argue that it has been a good move for Jo just based on results. I guarantee that no one pre A-1 expected a healthy, HRC mounted Shimoda to be sitting 5th in points behind Marchbanks on a Club MX bike. Unless he pulls something out of his ass this summer (which will be tough to do against a field of Star and PC bikes), he has objectively taken a step backward. Watching Jo struggle on the Honda this year has made what the Hunta brothers accomplished over past few years even more remarkable.
Shimoda is an enigma. It’s rare you see a rider find success so early on and just stagnate from there. He won an SX in his 2nd ever year when he was just 18. He also consistently has the speed to finish on the podium but can never quite finish on the first step. Riders like smith, RJ, Thrasher all have weekends where they can seemingly step it up to get a win but then fall back the next and finish behind Jo. Jo always seem to just find a spot in 3rd/2nd. Imo it’s a lack of desire.
Jo has the talent, but I don’t know if he’s willing to risk it all for the win or dedicate his life to training. He’s clearly very skinny, and you never hear stories about his work ethic. People like Kitchen historically grind it out at the test track. Seth Hammaker rides in the morning then does start practice at 7 pm. We all know RJ works like a dog. I think if Jo just wanted it a bit more he could train his way up to the top again. I think he has the ability to ride like Kitchen (look at the way he was handling the bike at Chicago SMX 2023) but he just needs to work for it a bit more, and probably get back on the PC bike, bc the Honda clearly is an inferior machine.
I remember seeing an interview where he said he doesn’t really even like racing that much. It is basically just a job for him where he can make a good living. Wish I had 10% of his talent!
Yup exactly, it was his interview with Gypsy Tales
He said in a interview that the kawi had 2 settings and that was that, but the Honda has truckload of settings and he is having a bit of trouble getting it set up, but he’s getting there, I found that kinda of amazing that he’s having trouble setting it up !!
Pit Row
That interview stuck out to me too and i was going to post about it. Tedesco set up the PC bikes and there were 2 choices.
Sounds like Honda doesn't have any test riders and its up to Jo to figure it out and perhaps he is saying he is not very good at testing.
Which brings me to something else I've been wondering for a bit now...is Trey Canard still working on bike setup or did he get canned when Darren Lawrence in that infamous interview say something along the lines that Jett and Hunter were starting from ground zero when it came to bike set up?
Here's the interview that our buddy Anton did for Swapmoto. Go to 9:40 mark for Jo interview.
Jo was very squeamish or something when asked what he thinks about testing. Seemed he really have to dig deep for the words. Somehow doesn't seem very fired up on being a HRC factory rider.
Starts will be blue and green outdoors. Jett had to work his way to the front.
In all fairness, everyone starts out at zero, if you can’t tell them what you want, wellll then just stick to this!!Ricky Johnston was telling a story about jett at the test track, saying how he could tell what the fork was doing corner, mid corner, and trey said do this and this,jett didn’t like the setup! Ricky just said keep doing what you are doing, reckons he has great feel for the bike yet so young!!
Say what you will about him, the man has well organised TV cables.
Hope he can find his feet again, he has so much potential but it seems he's really struggling to live up to it at the moment.
Prime example of more isn't always better.
You guys are generally easier on riders than I am..... he's factory hrc, has months to test before the start of the season, and its a setup issue? I've heard nothing about trey not being involved, so that's a fantastic resource for a "base" setting before he even gets on the bike. Let alone hunter's setup from last year as well, being that he's a thinner guy also.
Sometimes other riders just want it more.
I feel like that's a more common sentiment than many pro riders would admit. Turning something into your job is an easy way to take the fun out of it. There's a reason most guys barely touch a dirt bike after retirement
I took that as choosing his words carefully because it's his second language and he didn't want anything taken out of context. Plus, he always looks uncomfortable during interviews. He never seems to know what to do with his hands.
Another example of blaming setup/bike instead of looking in the mirror at him self.
He is looking in the mirror by acknowledging he isn't good at bike set up. That's the way I interpreted Antons Swapmoto interview.
He’ll be good when he gets the Honda 100% dialed in for his style. I do think he would have been better on the Kawi this season based on his own comments about the feel of the current gen Honda and how it’s different from the one he last rode. He will be better next year.
Is the PC bike better than the Honda ?? Might be some second-guessing going on
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