The Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff opener over the weekend was tough for everyone involved. From the riders, to the teams, to the SMX Track Crew, working industry members, etc.
On track and on the results page, it was a tough weekend all around for the Honda HRC Progressive team. Hunter Lawrence, the 450SMX championship leader entering the day, had an early crash in the first moto and got lapped twice en route to a 21st place finish. He had crashes in the second moto too, but he never gave up. Late in the second moto, he came from 17th (fifth lap) and was still 15th on the seventh lap of the race but managed to climb to eighth place by the checkered flag of the 11-lap race. That charge helped him in the overall results some as he came through 15th overall instead of what could have been outside of the top 20 overall on the day. Yes, he gives up the championship lead, but he only sits ten points back of Jorge Prado with double points this weekend and triple points at the finale.
As for the 250SMX squad, both Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas had plans of being podium finishers this weekend but ended up on the ground too much themselves, too. Hymas’ 9-5 finishes for seventh overall were the better of the two, as Shimoda’s 12-13 finishes were 13th overall. Hymas sits fifth in the standings now (he came into the playoffs as the fourth seed) as Shimoda sits 13th (he was the 11th seed). Again, double and triple points at these next two races so they have more than a chance at this title—if things go well at the second race to keep them both in it. Shimoda won the second and third playoff rounds last year en route to the 250SMX title.
Team Manager Honda HRC Progressive Lars Lindstrom pointed out two things in today’s post-race release from the team: 1) they are taking the positive that this happened at the single-point round and 2) they need to work on their mud skills.