Poor Starts Mask Good Rides by Team Honda HRC at Anaheim 2 SX

・Jett Lawrence sixth overall in 450SX despite strong charges through the pack
・11th overall in 450SX for Hunter Lawrence, via 9-9-12 finishes
・Jo Shimoda takes fourth overall in 250SX West, with second place in last race

Although AMA Supercross’s first Triple Crown race of the season didn’t go down the way Team Honda HRC had hoped (none of the team’s three participating riders finished on the overall podiums), there was reason for the squad to hold their heads high as they head to round 5. The series’ second trip of the year to Anaheim, California’s Angels Stadium saw Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda all ride hard and show their potential at moments, but the fact that they were forced to deal with subpar starts meant their overall results were limited to sixth, 11th and fourth, respectively.

In the 450SX class, Jett Lawrence put together 7-3-4 race finishes, the first despite a lap 1 crash and the last after charging through the pack to second place, only to fall on the final lap. That last miscue proved to be particularly consequential on the wild evening, transforming what would have been a second-overall result and the points lead to sixth overall and fourth in the title chase (eight behind the leader). Hunter Lawrence spent most of the evening battling to be inside the top 10, putting together 9-9-12 results that delivered him an 11th-overall showing.

Meanwhile, the 250SX West class saw Shimoda in 12th, 15th and seventh after the first lap of the three races–a consequence of poor getaways and early falls. The Japanese rider was among the fastest racers on the track as he worked his way forward, but he was ultimately limited to a 9-3-2 tally for fourth overall.

NOTES

・Ahead of Feld’s media-day activities on Friday, Honda hosted journalists to a “Brunch With Brabec” event in the Team Honda HRC pits. Held exactly one week after Ricky Brabec won the Dakar Rally for the second time, the event celebrated the achievement and gave media the opportunity to conduct one-on-one interviews with the Hesperia, California, resident.

・On race day, Brabec was interviewed on the Race Day Live broadcast, and he participated in a celebrity meet-and-greet on the start line. He was also joined by teammate Skyler Howes and mentor Johnny Campbell for an autograph session. During the opening ceremonies, he and Campbell did a parade lap around the stadium floor’s perimeter—Brabec on a factory CRF450 RALLY, Campbell on a production Transalp. They then visited managers in American Honda’s suite before watching the race from the Monster Energy suite.

・SoCal Honda Powersports staffed a popup dealer-activation booth in the Team Honda HRC pits at Anaheim 2. They displayed a CRF450RWE and CRF110F and engaged with fans and customers.

・American Honda displayed several powersports products in the Team Honda HRC pits at Anaheim 2, including Proctor Racing’s desert-racing Talon 1000R, Raceco-USA’s short-course Talon 1000R and JCR Honda’s California 300-winning CRF450X. A few feet away, SLR Honda displayed a Baja 1000-winning CRF450X, an NGPC title-winning CRF250RX and a gold-medal-winning ISDE CRF450RX—but the star was unquestionably the factory Monster Energy Honda CRF450 RALLY machine.

・In combined times for daytime qualifying, Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence was fifth-quickest in 450SX, with Hunter Lawrence 11^th-best. Jo Shimoda had the third-best time in 250SX West.

・Anaheim 2 hosted the season’s first 250SX Futures race, and SLR Honda’s Parker Ross turned in a solid performance to notch a podium result. Other Red Riders to take part included MXE Coaching-backed Kile Epperson, SmarTop/MotoConcept’s Noah Viney, Woolf Aircraft-backed Ethan Day and Interactive Mortgage-sponsored Alvin Hillan.

・With four rounds in the books, Jett Lawrence sits fourth in the overall 450SX standings, eight points in arrears of the leader. Hunter Lawrence is 11^th on the list, while Jo Shimoda is sixth in the 250SX West rankings.

・The day after the race, Team Honda HRC technicians performed their typical bike rebuilds in the Angel Stadium parking lot, in preparation for the Detroit round this Saturday, when Chance Hymas will campaign the first 250SX East Region round of the year.