Page 40 - Issue_56

RJ HAMPSHIRE
250 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ROEWER DESIGN / TILLS
>> After missing the first three rounds of the season, RJ Hampshire hasn’t had the best of luck. With a few unfortunate finishes behind him, things have slowly begun picking up for the Geico Honda rider getting two top ten finishes in the last two rounds. Slowly finding his rhythm, Hampshire is looking stronger each weekend. Coming off his last two finishes, he had the ball rolling in the right direction head-
ing into round nine of the season. Qualifying 7th fastest for the day, Hampshire was lined up and ready to leave it all on the track in moto one. Ripping out of the gate
he was sitting right around 10th through the hectic first turn but, keeping the speed up; he was quick to make some passes working up to 8th only a few laps into the race. At the half way point, he had passed a few more moving up to 6th. As the clock wound down, Hampshire rode consistently finishing the moto in 6th place. Looking to improve his results in the second moto, the Honda rider flew out of the gate and into second right behind Joey Savatgy. Making sure the leader didn’t pull away from him he was all over the Kawasaki rider. On the third lap, the perfect opportunity arose for Hampshire to pass for the lead and he jumped all over it. Now he was leading the race and was working hard to pull away from the riders behind him. After riding out front for a few laps, a small mistake in a turn cost him the lead. Now back in 2nd, he was doing all that he could to make up for his error on the track, but Savatgy was
on another level. Unable to catch back up to first, Hampshire finished of the second moto in 2nd place. Going 7-2 for the day, he grabbed himself a 5th overall for the day continuing his streak of good finishes.
40 GRITMOTO • JULY 31, 2017