Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda landed shy of a rostrum finish with P4 overall in 250MX at Hangtown, determined to ‘clean up a few things’ to return to the podium at Thunder Valley this Saturday.

One of those things for Shimoda will be consistent starts, having to work his way forwards from to 10th in the opening moto at round two to finish P5.

Moto two saw the KX250 rider in victory contention and closing in on Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence to make a pass for the lead before a small mistake dropped him back to fourth.

“Today was an okay race for me. My starts weren’t great but I think I rode well considering I had to fight through the pack in both motos,” Shimoda recalled. “The good news is I have the speed and fitness to make up for a not-so-great start.

“I wanted the win in moto two but I rushed the pass and made a little mistake which set me back to fourth. I just need to get more consistent with my starts and clean up a few things before next weekend and we’ll be back on the podium.”

Shimoda has shown great speed throughout the opening two rounds of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and was third overall at the season opener at Fox Raceway. He is third in the points standings following the first four motos, 23 points back from red plate-holder Jett Lawrence.