St. Louis SX: Season-Best Finishes for Hunter Lawrence & Jo Shimoda!
Despite the frustration of a couple of misfortunes denying Jett Lawrence a top finish in the 450SX class, the third and final Triple Crown race of the 2024 AMA Supercross season—held this weekend in St. Louis—included very positive aspects for Team Honda HRC, with Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda both tallying their best results of the year thus far.
The wild first 450SX race saw Hunter Lawrence’s CRF450RWE exit turn 1 with the lead, while Jett was in fifth. A lap 1 pileup delayed Jett, costing him a couple of positions, and Hunter went down on the following lap. Impressively, Jett was up to second place by lap 10, and he held on for a runner-up finish, while Hunter took an eighth-place result. Race 2 began with a Jett Lawrence holeshot, but Justin Cooper snuck by on the second straight. Jett got back by through a rhythm section on the next lap and went on to notch a comfortable win, only to be demoted to third for missing a red-cross flag over the finish-line jump. Several other riders received similar penalties, with Hunter benefitting with a second-place result. Hunter and Jett were about fifth and sixth to start race 3, but Justin Barcia made contact with Jett in a 180-degree corner, sending the Australian to the ground. Hunter rode in fourth place for most of the race, tallying 8-2-4 scores for third overall—the first podium result of his young premier-class career. Jett slowly circulated the track for 21st place, but his 2-3-21 scores were good for eighth overall.
Jo Shimoda put his CRF250R in front down the start straight in the 250SX West division’s first race, but he went wide in turn 1 and completed lap 1 in third place. On lap 7 he displaced Juju Beaumer for second, then held that spot to the finish. Shimoda was fifth out of turn 1 in race 2 and lost a spot shortly afterward. He had climbed into podium position by the midway point, and he held off a late RJ Hampshire attack to finish third. Shimoda was third across the holeshot line in race 3, and that’s where the Japanese rider stayed for all 11 laps, his 2-3-3 scores netting him a season-best second-overall result.
Team Honda HRC: ama.hondaracingcorporation.com
