The 2025 AMA Supercross season kicked off on Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, with Honda HRC Progressive rider Jo Shimoda claiming the first 250SX West main event of the season with a wire-to-wire victory. Meanwhile, his teammates, Hunter and Jett Lawrence, both experienced misfortune in the 450SX main and notched frustrating results just outside the top 10, but they expect to bounce back next weekend in San Diego. Words: HRC
Shimoda delivered an outstanding performance in the 250SX West class, leading from start to finish aboard his CRF250RWE to secure a dominant victory and the red plate heading into round 2. Other than a few small mistakes early on, Jo rode smooth, consistent laps until finishing 4.7 seconds ahead of the runner-up rider.
In the 450SX main event, Jett and Hunter Lawrence encountered difficulties on a tricky track that caught out many riders throughout the night. Jett became caught in the tuff blocks off the start and rounded the first turn in last place. He began working his way forward, only to fall again a couple of laps later, this time in the sand. That put him in last place once again–this time with a larger gap to the front. He did his best to mitigate the damage but could only climb to 12th before the chequered flag flew.
Meanwhile, Hunter had started in sixth, and he advanced to fourth by about the midway point. Unfortunately, the sand that had claimed his brother also caused Hunter to fall, but he remounted and managed to finish just ahead of Jett, in 11th. The showing was obviously not what the brothers or team had hoped or worked for, but they nonetheless remain optimistic for the season ahead. Quadlock Honda Racing’s Shane McElrath had a respectable showing in the main event to finish in 13th.
Jett Lawrence: “That wasn’t ideal, but the only way to go from here is up. We’ll go back, work hard, do some testing and come back better. We always do.”
Hunter Lawrence: “It was a frustrating end result, but there were a lot of positives throughout the day and night show. I’m eager to get back to work with the team to come back swinging in San Diego.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager: “I’m not sure how many of these bittersweet nights we’ve had in the past, but it was a familiar feeling to have one rider have a great night, and then others have a really poor one. In my opinion, our performance was actually better than it seems, with Hunter moving his way forward in the beginning until his unfortunate crash, and Jett having the fastest lap time by almost a second in the heat race. We definitely need to make some improvements, but at the same time, I don’t think we need to panic about our results. It’s a long series, so it’s time to trust in ourselves and come back strong in San Diego.”
Image: @empiresportsphotos – Chris Schulte
