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RJ HAMPSHIRE
250 SX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> After a solid fourth overall at the season opener last weekend in Arlington, RJ Hampshire
was more than happy to head into his “home” race at Tampa with a little momentum. We know he loves racing in his home state of Florida because of the big victory he claimed in the offseason. He won the MXGP of USA at WW Ranch in Jacksonville against the best riders from all over the world. He defended is home turf of Florida successfully and was hoping to do the same again but this time inside a stadium. Hampshire proved he is capable of that kind of performance during the outdoor series last year where he went out and irted with a couple of race wins. Hampshire’s day in Tampa began pretty well. The Geico Honda rider set the seventh fastest lap time of the class and was just within one second of the fastest time set by Dylan Ferrandis. Hampshire looked smooth and consistent on what was a technical and demanding course, which was a pleasant surprise because for much of his career he has struggled with staying off the ground. In those qualifying sessions he showed that he was ready to mix it up with the best of them come race time. Hampshire is notorious for ripping good holeshots and he stayed true to that as we saw him rocket into the rst turn rst in his heat race. He looked fresh and energized in front of his home town crowd and would try and run away with the victory. He led for a majority of the race, but Martin Davalos was slowly but surely making his presence felt. He really applied the pressure to Hampshire in the waning laps and would make a pass happen on lap seven. This sent Hampshire back to second where he would remain for the rest of the race. Hampshire made it back to back holeshots on the night as he red out into the lead yet again in the main event. But unlike in the heat race, he would surrender the spot after leading only one lap to Austin Forkner. Hampshire settled into second after getting passed and did a good job holding off Osborne who was in third. He appeared to have the Husqvarna rider well repelled but a mistake in the rhythm section on
lap ve allowed him by and then a mistake in the sand section immediately following the rhythm allowed Dylan Ferrandis around as well. That pair of mistakes cost him two positions and he was determined to not blunder like that again. He settled down and rode all the way to the checkered ag mistake free in a lonely fourth place. He lost touch with the leaders ahead of him, but he had a nice cushion on the riders behind him. However, he did get a little pressure late in the race from Jordon Smith, but he would still hold on to nish in that fourth-place spot. Two races in and two fourth place nishes for Hampshire. He has to be itching to make a stronger effort at race wins, but he also must be happy with the consistency he has shown. He will hope for another similar performance next weekend in Atlanta.
36 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 25, 2018