Backing up his dominant performance two weeks ago when the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship wrapped up in Indiana, Jo Shimoda made himself the first overall winner in 250SMX competition as the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship playoff rounds kicked off at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Strong starts for Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) gave way to a dominant charge to the lead and the win by Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Rcing) in the first-ever SuperMotocross moto.

While Hunter Lawrence, of Team Honda HRC, crawled back toward the top 10 after an unideal start and a fall, Kitchen led comfortably with Deegan in pursuit. Deegan successfully passed his teammate for the lead on the 12th lap and went on to take the checkers on the 17th with Kitchen 3.547s in arrears.

Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) occupied the final podium position at the end, a further 5.561s back, with the initially front-running Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki trio of Hammaker, Austin Forkner, and Ryder DiFrancesco taking the next three spots in fourth, fifth, and sixth.

The final top-10 positions were occupied by Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Lawrence, and Maximus Vohland (Red Bull KTM), with Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) just missing out in 11th and 12th.

Backing up his first-moto success at the start of the final 250SMX race of the event, Vialle led early with the Kawasaki trio of Shimoda, DiFrancesco, and Hammaker chasing from close behind.

After an easy fall in the first turn, Lawrence was near the back of the pack and again tasked with working his way forward.

Ensuring the overall victory went his way after finishing fourth in moto one, Shimoda passed Vialle for the lead and beat the KTM rider to the checkers by 3s.

DiFrancesco held on for third, finishing just a second and a half behind Vialle’s rear wheel. Three Star Racing-prepared Yamaha machines were next across the line, with Smith, Deegan, and Cooper at the controls.

Lawrence’s charge culminated in a seventh-place result in this second moto, giving the newly crowned 250MX Pro Motocross champion eighth overall with 9-7 results. Hammaker, Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), and Brown completed the top 10 in the second moto.

While Shimoda’s 4-1 plus 3-2 moto scores for Vialle gave those two riders the top two steps on the podium, Deegan went 1-5 for the third and final podium spot. DiFrancesco and Smith just missed the overall podium in fourth and fifth.

The second playoff round will arrive in a week’s time as the series resurfaces at Chicagoland Speedway for the September 16 event, where double points will be on offer. Shimoda and Deegan head to Chicago tied in the 250SMX points standings with 42 each. Lawrence is next with 39, followed by Vialle in fourth with 38 and Kitchen in fifth at 35.

Detailed results