Jo Shimoda had pulled away to a three second lead early in the East Coast opener at Arlington until the red lights went on over a small double just before the finish line, forcing Shimoda to roll the whole section and lose the lead to Pierce Brown!
Shimoda recovered to stay in second, but couldn’t find a way by Brown and despite it being a brilliant result with the Japenese rider only on the bike for three weeks after his broken neck, there was still confusion as to why the red light was even on and if Brown or Bennick should also have rolled the section.
Shimoda said: “I think it’s under Investigation right now. I did see a red light on the double so I had to slow down, I had to roll the jump and I couldn’t get enough momentum to jump to finish line because the finish line. But yes, when I went through it was red, but no-one was down. It would make sense to me if someone was down before I hit the jump and right right when I roll the jump it turned off, it makes sense.
“But if not, then I think it’s fair enough to ave the points, given to me. I mean, I think it was like 2.5 or three seconds. I mean I couldn’t jump this whole rhythm section. So It was big it was a big on, three points matters maybe at the end of the year, but we’ll see, it’s under investigation right now.”
So far, it is still Brown being credited with the win and Shimoda in second…but that could all change once the AMA come to a decision following the investigation.
On his unexpected return to racing this early Shimoda said he felt a bit rusty all day! “You know, I get paid to go race and go do good out there and it’s my job to line up and race. But at the same time, you know, the neck, this injury is pretty sensitive, it’s a big one and honestly, I got approved by doctor, but You never know till you go back riding again, right? And I felt comfortable and strong enough and me we’re doing the right preparation, right rehab. So that whenever the time comes, I don’t feel too far off and but I would say I was honest. I was pretty rusty all day long today, but ended up good.“
“I was feeling pretty rusty but, every time, my adrenaline just kicks in at the race. I just never can really flip the switch, in practice. When the race time comes on it’s just like just everything just seems to turn on, you know? So yeah, I was honestly a little bit tired at the end but also there’s a lot of a lot of things like on the bike that still feel uncomfortable…we just have to be honest… I’m just behind (in prep).”
Of the three main pre-season title contenders, that also included Davies and Hammaker, Shimoda looked the least ready but he performed the best and now he is right in title contention already – what a ride!
