"I Never Really Thought I Was Going to Race Dirtbikes," Shimoda Talks About His Journey To the Pro Ranks

How did you get involved in motocross?

This question truly is one of the most simple, yet complex questions that I like to ask when I’m interviewing riders. Some riders don’t remember. Most riders grew up in a racing family and it’s most always due to their father getting them a dirtbike. I’m guilty of this myself. Us dad’s just can’t help ourselves, you know?

I had HRC Honda’s Jo Shimoda on my podcast recently for the first time to actually sit down and find out some important information that I think you’ll find quite interesting. It was my first time having a true conversation with him that didn’t involve a post race press conference. I had a half hour to try and figure out how he rose to a factory Honda rider all the way from Suzuka, Japan.

“I never really thought I was going to race dirtbikes,” Shimoda said. “My dad signed me up for a race the first time when I was maybe seven-years-old. From that moment, my dad loves racing, and he would sign me up almost every weekend.”

Eventually Shimoda would progress into a race winner on the local level in Japan. This progression would lead to the Shimoda’s coming to the United States to try out Loretta Lynn’s.

“I didn’t think I was going to race, I knew nothing about motocross, I knew nothing about Supercross and MXGP,” Shimoda said. “My dad used to love watching Adam Cianciarulo. There was one year that I qualified for Loretta’s and I went back to Japan and broke both of my wrists. He would just go there to watch Adam. All of the racing knowledge came from my dad, he would decide everything for me and I would just go with it.”

But before all his success, his first trip to the United States was a ten day trip back in 2013 that was an experience that he would never forget.

The Shimoda’s broke down their motorcycle into luggage and flew to America. They flew to California for with the plan for Jo to just practice, but by the end of the week they ended up at a Gold Cup race at Milestone with a who’s who of amateur motocross.

“Pierce Brown, Josh Varize, Stilez Robertson, all the fast kids were all there,” Shimoda said. “I would get close to being lapped and that was kind of the moment that me, my dad, and my mom got fired up. We decided to take it a little more serious and if we were going to keep racing dirtbikes we’d do it against the best in the United States.”

Despite having to travel all the way from Japan, Shimoda never let the pressure get to him in his racing. It’s kind of interesting because he said that he still struggles with that aspect today. He just doesn’t feel any pressure on the gate.

“Even now, I struggle with that part, I can’t really feel the pressure on the gate,” Shimoda said. “My goal is to perform at 100%. You know how other racers when they see a faster rider it makes them a little nervous, but I struggle to get that feeling. I’m stressed about me not being able to perform rather than pressure from the team or other riders around. It was kind of a different situation for me.”

Maybe it’s due to the fact that Shimoda just grew up going to the gate not knowing who he was lining up against. At the end of the day, he was just a kid who wanted to ride his dirtbike. Now that ‘kid’ is among the best racers in the world, racing at the highest level, on one of the most iconic teams in the history of the sport.

If you haven’t yet, listen to the full episode of the Squad Pod with Jo Shimoda on your favorite podcast catcher, or press play below!