Page 50 - GRIT-84

RJ HAMPSHIRE
250 MX / 7TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Coming into the Spring Creek Round here in Millville, RJ Hampshire had quite the boost in morale, with the amount of sand being displayed as the racing surface. A native Florid- ian, he always has adapted to the soil composition well, and looked to cause serious havoc on the eld, from the moment his tread engraved onto the practice eld. Slashing through all sorts of riders throughout timed qualifying, you saw his true foundation of speed, in which Geico Honda hired him on. He was making the red shrouds glisten, becoming a pure spectacle to all the adoring fans who lined the fences. Soaring through the uphill section, just prior to the nish line for his nal lap, he made sure to give a head nod to big group of attendees chanting his name; the momentum was now in his corner, if he could just bottle
it up and unveil, come time for the moto’s. Seventh place in the beginning of the moto, had him looking to ascend in spiking fashion, as the eld began to sort themselves out. His number plate began to be pelted with sand bullets, a constant plastering of dirt all aboard his front fender and sticker kit. He would then truly nd himself in a bit of a cluster towards the nal moments of this thirty-minute rumble. It was a train of riders, bunched with Justin Cooper, McElrath, Alex Martin, and Hampshire himself. A true grouping of killers, RJ would remain headstrong, never collapsing to a bit of pressure. He wouldn’t be able to get around McElrath, but could hold off the hometown kid of Alex Martin; sixth place was where he would nish. A twenty-seventh place start (after a tangle with Joey Savatgy) wasn’t apart of the pre-race memo, as the second moto began, however he would claw his way into the top twenty shortly thereafter. It was a game of cherry-picking after that, plucking off riders such as Cameron McAdoo, and Sean Cantrell. He continued to haul the mail, as the minutes would clock down, simulating a scenario of the checkered ag being his nal destination. Moving around Jordon Bailey in the nal few laps, he would take eleventh position as the moto would wrap up; with the two scores merging for seventh overall. Although a better start could have changed a lot of things, he was ready and eager to head to the next round, knowing that he could top this performance without question.
50 GRITMOTO • JULY 22, 2018