Honda HRC Progressive continued its strong showing in the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship this weekend at Thunder Valley, not only winning both 450 motos (as they have done at every round so far), but also taking the overall victory in the 250 class, with Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda doing the honours. Also notable was Hunter Lawrence’s podium overall result in the 450 class.

“I’m super pumped with that red plate,” Jett Lawrence said. “It’s obviously good to have, even if it doesn’t mean anything at this point, really—it’s more important if you have it in the last round. They added mulch to the track, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing; it’s adding it too close to the race that’s not ideal. If they would’ve added it months prior, where the mulch could work into the soil and mix together, then I think it would hold moisture better. My first few laps, I had both wheels sliding because of the mulch and the water on top of it. In that first moto, I didn’t have the flow of the track at all, and because I was so disjointed and didn’t have much of a fire, I almost got more tired in the first moto than I did in the second one—we were just in defence mode in the first one. To be fair, my ankle felt really good this weekend. I still can’t ride normal, but I just have a little bit less pain. It was still pretty stiff to move side to side, but this week we had a lot more range of motion.”

Jett delivered a flawless performance, nailing both holeshots and leading every lap in both motos aboard his CRF450RWE. Despite needing to manage the effects of his still-recovering ankle injury, the Australian once again showed remarkable composure and adaptability. Faced with pressure from multiple challengers—including Hunter—he consistently responded and controlled the races from the front. Jett is the only rider to have ever scored four consecutive premier-class overall wins at the Colorado venue, and he also took over the championship points lead.

Hunter continued his strong run of form, topping the combined qualifying times and getting two excellent starts, putting himself in contention for the lead early in both motos. He regularly applied pressure at the front and overcame falls in each race, notching 4-4 moto scores for third overall (Hunter crossed the moto 1 finish line in third but was docked a position for inadvertently cutting a corner).

“It was kind of a crappy day in the office,” Hunter said. “I just kind of struggled a little bit with connectivity—feeling what traction I had with the front and the rear—so I hit the ground way too many times today. I feel like my riding and my pacing speed were good enough to win. The starts were good, even though they weren’t holeshots, which I think is a huge difference, especially when battling Jett. I was trying to take different lines to pass Jett, and on this track, you pretty much took the same line from the first corner all the way to the end of the motos. Anytime you tried to take a different line, you just lost time, and that’s exactly how Haiden [Deegan] ended up getting me in that first moto; I was just trying a different line to go around Jett, I lost time and he was on the inside. For the penalty, I’ve never intentionally gone off the track or tried to run over markers, so kind of a bummer. I got 4-4 today when it was really 3-4, but my crashes were the main problem.”

In the 250 class, Shimoda broke through for his first overall victory of the season, with consistent 3-3 moto scores. Despite starting 13th in the opening moto and even suffering an early crash, Shimoda methodically worked his way forward, remaining composed and mounting a late-race charge to secure third place. The Japanese rider’s moto-2 start was a bit better (seventh), and he advanced into podium position around the midway mark. That was already enough to secure the overall victory, but Shimoda also overtook Ryder DiFrancesco near the end, further cementing the result.

“Winning normally comes from getting starts and just running away in the first few laps. My first-lap position in the first moto wasn’t bad; I just crashed right before the small double and then fell back to 15th or whatever and had to come back, but it was a good day overall. I think one of my strong points is keeping my pace up till the end, and kind of making some moves when everybody else drops. Compared to the first two rounds, my pace and riding were better today. We made some suspension changes, and we found some things where I could push through to another level. Overall, I think my riding was a lot better today, so I was able to come back through and win.”

This weekend takes Honda’s premier-class overall-win streak at Thunder Valley to six in a row, with Ken Roczen victorious in 2021 and ’22, and Jett Lawrence winning the last four times (Roczen also won on a Honda in 2019). This also extends Honda’s 450 overall-win record at the track to eight (three more than the next-closest manufacturer), with Ivan Tedesco having won in 2009.

Meanwhile, Honda now has seven 250 overall wins at Thunder Valley, with Shimoda joining past winning Red Riders including Justin Barcia, Eli Tomac, Jeremy Martin, Jett Lawrence and Hunter Lawrence.

Thunder Valley marked the 30th AMA Pro Motocross premier-class event Jett has competed in. He has taken the overall wins at all but four of those, for an incredible 86.7% winning percentage (a record). Twenty of those 26 wins were two-moto sweeps.

Lars Lindstrom Team Manager of the Honda HRC Progressive was obviously impressed with both his rider’s performances and while the Lawrence brothers continue to own the AMA 450 Nationals, the victory by Jo Shimoda was very impressive.

“It’s really tough to get an advantage over the competition in the 250 class. We need to get our starts better, and we’re getting there. We know that this class is so inconsistent, so we try to be there every weekend; that’s kind of what Jo gave us today. He came from way back in the first moto to get third place. In the second moto, he had a decent start and was able to make his way up and get enough points to win the overall. Chance came into this weekend under the weather, and it was going to be a struggle no matter what. It’s unfortunate because this has been his strongest race. In the first moto, he had a bad start and couldn’t really work his way up. In the second moto, he really gritted it out and was able to get 13th. I think we still have lots to improve on, and we’re going to keep doing our thing on the bike.

“On media day, Jett was trying to save his ankle, so he just focused on getting the starts down. They’re different here in first gear, but I think our 450 is suited really well. I actually thought Jett’s first moto wasn’t the best—he didn’t ride as well as he typically does, but he’s really good at managing. The second moto was a different story, and he was able to pick great lines. As for Hunter, his result doesn’t represent how well he was riding today. He was fastest qualifier, and he was ripping that first moto especially—all over Jett, and I thought it was his day. We’ll see next week; I’m anticipating more battles at High Point!”