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RJ HAMPSHIRE
250 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> No one has taken the same volume of hard hits and crashes as Geico Honda’s RJ Hampshire this season. This dates all the way back to Supercross when a vicious crash at Daytona kept him out of action until Hangtown. Somehow, someway, Hampshire always ends up on the short end of the stick in every situation. This has severely hurt his chances at both moto and overall podiums, but he keeps on grinding. He knows that sooner or later; lady luck is going to side with him and he will nally have his breakthrough ride. His goal for Washougal was to string together two solid motos and to stay of the ground. If
he could do that, he knows that that could very well put him on the podium. Hampshire struggled to nd a solid rhythm in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He could not throw down a total heater and this resulted in him only managing to throw down the twelfth fastest lap time of the class. Not where he wanted to be heading into the motos, but he and his team would make the proper adjustments and get him ready to contend at the front. Hampshire suffered a poor start to begin his day of racing. He rounded lap one of moto one in fteenth position. He managed to nd some extra running room on the tight race track because he leapfrogged six riders over the next two laps to position himself in ninth. He was putting together a nice charge but the riders ahead of him were pretty well spaced out making it hard to pass. On lap ve, Dylan Ferrandis charged from behind and moved Hampshire back to tenth. Hampshire stayed with the Frenchman the rest of the race and it bene ted him when Ferrandis stalled late in the moto. This allowed Hampshire to reclaim ninth and just when it looked like he would ride home to nish there, Shane McElrath put together a charge on the nal lap to pass him and put him right back to tenth. A tough moto for Hampshire, he would look for a better start in moto two. Hampshire’s second moto started his second moto with a much-improved start. He came around lap one in sixth and wasted no time passing Mitchell Harrison on lap two, and Colt Nichols on lap three. He moved into fourth place behind Ferrandis. This is where he would stay the remainder of the moto, but he stayed lurking and just on the verge of striking distance of Ferrandis and, later in the moto, Aaron Plessinger. He would nish right behind the two Yamaha riders for a strong fourth place. His 10-4 moto scores gave him fth overall for
the day. Not a great day but not a poor one either. He would certainly like to have the rst moto back, but he’ll take the strong top ve nish.
20 GRITMOTO • JULY 29, 2018