Page 48 - GRIT26

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GRITMOTO • JULY.25.16
RJ HAMPSHIRE
RJ Hampshire is slowly but surely putting his season back on the right track. The second year Geico Honda rider has been in a bit of a sophomore slump this season. After an impressive rookie year, people expected
him to come out stronger here in 2016 but that has yet to be the case. His struggles began in Supercross where crashes and bad starts really hampered his results. He was only able to notch one top five finish after grabbing three the season prior. He looked to get things rolling again outdoors but crashes, bad starts and just minor inconsistencies have kept him from hitting that full potential yet again. The 250 class is absolutely loaded with kids with talent and absurd amounts of speed and that leaves Hamp- shire and the rest of the field little room for error. One must put together a near perfect moto just to get inside the top ten. Despite all his struggles and the stacked field, Hampshire is beginning to get back into his groove. Back to back weekends of consistent finishes resulting in eleventh and ninth overalls have got to provide a little bit of a confident boost. If he can improve on his starts with his im- proving consistency, he will return to being a fixture inside the top ten.
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