Honda HRC’s riders for the 2025 SMX season
Words and images courtesy Honda HRC
Honda HRC Progressive’s four-man line up for the 2025 Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross championship feature; Australian brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence in the 450 class. Japanese Jo Shimoda and Idaho’s Chance Hymas will compete in the 250cc class.
Check out the background bios of all four of…..
Jett Lawrence
• Racing Number: 1
• Date of Birth: August 7, 2003
• Hometown: Landsborough, Queensland, Australia
• Residence: Dade City, FL
After racing in his native Australia as a youngster, Jett Lawrence earned the 2014 65cc World Championship in Belgium at age 11.
In 2016 he campaigned the German ADAC series and the 85 European Motocross Championship. Two years later, he made the jump to the 250 European Motocross Championship at age 14.
The Lawrence family then relocated to the USA. Jett raced for Factory Connection–initially with their amateur squad, then the pro team, taking 2020 Rookie of the Year honors.
The next year saw him move to the factory CRF250R with Team Honda HRC. With them, he earned the ’21 and ’22 AMA Pro Motocross 250 Championship, as well as the ’22 AMA 250SX East Region and ’23 West Region crowns.
He then advanced to the big class and took the ’23 AMA Pro Motocross 450 crown with an undefeated performance. He then put an exclamation point on the year by collecting the inaugural SuperMotocross 450 title.
He followed up in 2024 by adding the AMA Supercross 450 crown and repeating as SuperMotocross 450 World Champion.
Hunter Lawrence
• Race Number: 96
• Date of Birth: August 1, 1999
• Hometown: Landsborough, Queensland, Australia
• Residence: Dade City, FL
After Hunter Lawrence achieved success in Australia, he campaigned the 2016 European Motocross Championship and then the FIM MXGP series’ MX2 class in 2017. He took second overall at the U.S. round in Florida and finished ninth in the final standings.
The following year saw him switch to the 114 Motorsports satellite Honda squad. With them, he finished third on the season despite missing several races.
Along the way, Hunter won the MX2 class at the 2017 Motocross of Nations and finished second the following year.
Hunter then relocated to the U.S. to race a CRF250R with the Factory Connection team in 2019.
In 2021, Hunter was promoted to the factory Team Honda HRC squad. For the next two seasons, he finished second in the AMA Supercross 250SX West Region and third in the AMA Pro Motocross 250 final standings. He then earned the 2023 AMA Supercross 250SX East Region Championship and AMA Pro Motocross 250 Championship.
Jo Shimoda
• Racer Number: 30
• Date of Birth: May 16, 2002
• Hometown: Suzuka, Japan
• Residence: Clermont, FL
Born and raised in Suzuka, Japan, Shimoda began riding dirt bikes when he was 4 years old. After earning early success as an amateur racer in his home country, he sought out stiffer competition internationally.
He competed in Europe (even racing against Jett Lawrence on occasion) and in the U.S. He earned the 2016 Supermini 2 AMA Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch at age 14.
He signed with the Honda-supported Factory Connection team’s amateur program in 2017. He then turned pro near the end of the 2019 season. In 2020, Shimoda’s first full year as a professional, he finished third in the AMA 250SX East Region final standings. He also earned the AMA Supercross Rookie of the Year Award.
With the Factory Connection team closing before the following season, Shimoda signed with Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
In 2021 he became the first Japanese rider to win an AMA 250SX main event. He finished second in the East Region final standings.
Last year saw him become the first Japanese rider to score an AMA Pro Motocross overall win. He earned second in the 250 final standings.
He was third in the same series earlier this year, also taking second in the inaugural SuperMotocross 250 class.
So far in his career, Shimoda has collected three 250 overall wins in AMA Pro Motocross. He also has one 250 Regional win in AMA Supercross and one 250 win in SuperMotocross.
Chance Hymas
• Racer Number: 10
• Date of Birth: May 25, 2005
• Hometown: Pocatello, ID
• Residence: Dade City, FL
Chance Hymas made a name for himself in the amateur ranks for years. This included multiple top-five finishes in the Monster Energy Cup Supermini class, an AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s, and the 2022 AMA Supercross Futures Championship.
Highly skilled in all types of racecraft, the Idaho native also has multiple off-road wins to his credit. These include series like WORCS and NGPC, and he was a member of the winning team at the 2022 Glen Helen 24-hour Endurance Race.
Making his pro debut in 2022 at the Fox Raceway 2 AMA Pro Motocross National, Hymas posted 20-11 scores for 15th overall in the 250 class. For 2023, he campaigned select AMA Supercross 250SX West Region rounds aboard the factory CRF250R before an injury prematurely ended his AMA Pro Motocross season.
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