Honda HRC Progressive Confirms Jo Shimoda for 2026 ☑️
[Music] Wow, look at that gutsy performance by Shimot. Brings a victory. Joe Shimot wins in A1. Let’s see what the number 30 can do. Joe Shimoda sweeps right above 2025. But on the 250, he’s unbeatable. Joe Shabota dominates. Oh, and now they’re both down. Joe Shimona’s long journey is over. He is the world champion. [Music] I got involved in motocross because of my dad. He used to ride and when I was young where we would do a lot of outside activities, camping like riding hit bikes, just building tracks, whatever that is. And one day um he got me a bike for Christmas. And since then I’ve been riding a little bit, a little bit um that turned into racing and kind of got serious since then. So that’s how I got into it. I don’t think I ever realized like I’m like okay really good maybe you know I’m still chasing every day. So that’s just never ending to me. One day I came back from home from school. We all sit down on the table and my dad’s like we’re going to United States next week. So we really packed our bike in a suitcase and left. Left for 10 days. That was the start. And after that like more often we start to travel and I guess more we travel we understand how they operate here what races top level amateur race or how to get into the pros. So the start was all you know I came back from home and just we’re we’re going to do it and I just kind of follow with it. I had a good year on Superme. I think it was 2016. won my both titles in Lorettes and the following year I got an offer from Geico Honda to do an amateur program first potentially uh turn into pro and and yeah that was my first opportunity with the factory team. [Music] No, it means a lot to me. I mean since young I think I think HRC is one of the one of the most advanced team in in the industry. I mean any motorsport industry. So to be part of that is is really amazing. And also I mean where I grew up we have Suzuka circuit where it’s like Honda’s all over you know Honda Corporation like right by my house. Like there’s there’s a lot to it and and yeah it means a lot. And this one is kind of hard to say. I’m like 50/50 right now. Spend my time about 10 11 13 years here and now I’m like 12th year now. So, I mean, I do feel like every time I go back to Japan, I kind of do feel like it’s home, but also here I’m spending so much time. I’m used to it here, too. So, I mean, it’s kind of both. Yeah, for me it was it was quite a a big improvement this year, you know, second year with the with the HRC, like knowing get to know like how the bike works and know the people here. And I feel like, you know, the first year we had I I feel like I had a little bit of lack of communication, but this year I think I think uh me and team did really good job addressing everything everything we need and keep made keep the steady progress and that that that helped me a lot. Yeah. More I spend the time with the team, I think it’s getting better and better. So, um it’s just kind of getting used to the team environment. Yeah, I had a I had a broken pinky um in San Diego, you know, in the mechanics area. I hit a pit board. It was honestly sad because I came in with the red play feeling good, confident, bike was good and all of a sudden just shut everything down out of out of my control. So, it was hard to swallow at the moment, but I mean I kind of kept racing, you know, to to add up some point. And I mean now we have SMX series which is we combine supercross and outdoor points and maybe if I didn’t race that I wouldn’t had opportunity to you know fight for first and SMX. So the moment that we uh I broke my hand yeah it was it was not good. But now that I look back it was like okay glad that I pushed through. It was tricky race because there’s a couple riders that could win a title uh depending on how you finish. So I I knew like um everyone would take their opportunity to do everything um to make it happen. And honestly, it’s a lot of pressure just because of the point situation and how the race works. I think I feel like I did a pretty good stay calm and kept my composure. Most importantly for me it’s like finishing with the title is like accomplishing something was the thing I was looking for more than more than the money or or the contract extension whatever that is. Um so to me winning that race and title was more than what it actually means. So uh it was really good. Um maybe I don’t know. Um I’m planning to go back home after this race in this nations. We’ll see. Of course, I think just like proving yourself, right? Like, okay, this year I rode with the hand injury, pushed through. Uh, I rode with the sicknesses on, you know, round two at St. Louis. And now I I feel like, you know, there’s a lot of pressure on the line at SMX. I rode through. So, I think a lot of that’s going to help mentally. And and of course, with the third year with the team, I’m looking forward to it. like every everything should be better than a year before and uh the guys on the team is really uh working really hard and yeah, we’re going to continue to uh make progress. Overall, it was it was a great year. Uh we made a lot of progress with the team and some some good result um really uh leading into next year. It’ll be really exciting. So, thank you guys.
On the heels of his first major professional racing championship, Jo Shimoda has signed a new deal with the factory Honda HRC Progressive team, American Honda confirmed today. The 23-year-old turned in a breakout season in 2025, consistently fighting for wins and podium finishes, and earning the SuperMotocross 250 crown. At the same time, he enjoyed a surge in popularity, as fans came to appreciate his fluid style and endearing personality.
Born and raised in Suzuka, Japan (where Honda has several important operations), Shimoda started riding at age 4 and, after earning early success in his home country, began honing his skills during increasingly frequent international forays. He eventually landed a spot on the Honda-supported Factory Connection amateur program, which transitioned into a pro ride near the end of the 2019 season. He posted respectable results over the next two years, even earning the 2020 AMA Supercross Rookie of the Year Award. Shimoda moved to another manufacturer when the satellite team shut down following the 2021 season, but he returned to Honda’s factory team in 2024. The 2025 season saw him take a major step forward. He won the AMA Supercross 250 West opener before a fluke hand injury affected the remainder of his indoor campaign, and he finished second in AMA Pro Motocross standings, taking a pair of overall wins along the way. Then in the three-round SuperMotocross Playoffs, Shimoda took another two overall wins and wrapped up the title, becoming the first Japanese rider to win a professional AMA championship. Shimoda was also impressive while racing a CRF450RWE for the first time with Team Japan at the season-end Motocross of Nations, posting 2-6 results in his two motos.
“Since I was young, I’ve thought HRC is one of the most advanced teams in the whole motorsports industry,” Shimoda said. “To be a part of that is amazing. Where I grew up, they have the Suzuka Circuit, where Honda is all over the place—Honda Racing Corporation is right by my house! There’s a lot to it, and it means a lot to me.”
“On behalf of everyone at American Honda, Honda HRC Progressive and HRC, I’m extremely pleased to welcome Jo back for another season,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing & Advertising at American Honda. “We’re proud of the progress that Jo has made with his speed and confidence over the last couple of seasons, and he has played an important role in developing our CRF250RWE race machine. We’re excited to see what we can do next together.”
Honda HRC Progressive: ama.hondaracingcorporation.com
