Jo Shimoda | Deal With Pro Circuit Announced

INSTAGRAM | @joshimoda
INSTAGRAM | @pcraceteam

Jo Shimoda’s move to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki for the 2021 race season has been common knowledge for a while (swap interviewed Jo and filmed him turning laps at Lake Elsinore on a practice bike) and his addition has finally been confirmed with a press release, photos, and post by Shimoda.

Pro Circuit’s previously announced lineup stated that Austin Forkner, Jordon Smith, and Cameron McAdoo would return to their posts and that Seth Hammaker would step up to the pro ranks next year. Talk that a fifth rider would be added to the team circulated in the first few weeks of the offseason and PC conducted test rides with a handful of racers at tracks in Southern California to determine which guy was worthy of the spot. 

Shimoda became a free agent after the unexpected shutdown of GEICO Honda, but a third place overall rank in the 250 East Coast SX championship and strong finishes through the 2020 season as a first-year pro put him on the radar of every major team. Honda initially worked to place the rider at Phoenix Racing Honda and he was close to finalizing the deal until negotiations with Mitch Payton and Kawasaki’s management proved to be more suitable.

The Pro Circuit team was hampered by injuries throughout 2020. McAdoo, Forkner, Smith, and Garrett Marchbanks all missed races at some point in the season and Mitchell Harrison and Darian Sanayei were brought in for the summer Nationals. It’s believed that the injuries and resulting scramble to find fill-in riders is partly why Pro Circuit has expanded to five riders for 2021, as key sponsorship agreements require a certain number of bikes to be on track at each race.

Below is the complete press release from Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, which includes quotes from Payton and Shimoda…

Foothill Ranch, Calif. (December 10, 2020) – The decorated Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team adds depth to an already stacked roster with the addition of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross ‘Rookie of the Year’ award recipient, Jo Shimoda for the 2021 racing season. Shimoda joins long-time Team Green™ racer Austin Forkner along with Jordon Smith, Cameron McAdoo, and the most recent Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green amateur motocross graduate Seth Hammaker aboard their all-new 2021 KX™250 motorcycles.

“Jo Shimoda became available late last season,” said Mitch Payton, Pro Circuit owner. “We feel that with his tremendous talent and the new 2021 Kawasaki KX250, it will be a recipe for success. Jo showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie supercross season and finished out the motocross season with a career-best moto podium finish. We’re looking forward to Jo mixing it up with our four other talented riders and seeing them all work toward their goal of becoming a champion next season.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t too sure what next year would look like for me, but thanks to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team and Mitch Payton, I couldn’t be more excited for next year,” said Shimoda. “It feels really good to be with such an iconic team like the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki race team and to know that they believe in my ability enough to give me a chance this year. I was able to test the all-new KX250 a couple of times and on my first day, I was over jumping everything because of how fast it was! I am just really thankful and excited for this opportunity and I plan to make the most of it.”