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A tenth place start for the opening festitivies, found RJ on the outside looking in. A rather uncharacteristic beginning for the Geico rider, Hampshire buckled down and leapfrogged Gannon Audette, DJ Macfarlane, and Paul Coates to sit seventh by lap two. A battle between Darryn Durham ensued, coupled with bar banging and critical line selection, eventually re-
sulting in a sixth place finish, and ticket to the main event.
With the roars of rev limiters popping off the walls of Metlife, and RJ’s heart rate climbing feverishly, the number 31 scurried down the opening straightway to a ninth place position. He held this spot until lap three, where he would shove Alex Frye aside and push full steam ahead. The locomotive of the 31 began to build momentum, until a front-end wash beneath the over-under saw all of his work crammed into the disposal. The riders appeared to blitz by him, one after the other, as he frantically kicked the 250f back to life. Falling to the sixteenth position, RJ steadily climbed through the field for the remainder of the race. Every position that was within distance, he clawed and discarded. The effort was rewarded with a twelfth place, something he shouldn’t be ashamed of after all that occurred.
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