Rob Koy

RJ Hampshire's Day At Ironman Raceway MX 2017 | PHOTOS

RJ went 12-5 for 7th overall at round 12.

At Ironman Raceway, RJ Hampshire came into the last round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Series with some momentum after scoring a few moto podium finishes in the last quarter of the series. The Geico Factory Connection Honda rider joined the series at High Point after healing up from a leg injury at the Toronto SX back in February and showed some good speed at his first couple rounds, but a few DNF’s with bike problems hurt his overall results. After putting his bike problems behind him, his results started improve as the series rolled on. We will follow RJ’s day at Ironman as he tries to finish the series on a high note.

RJ’s Geico Honda prepped by Derik Dwyer sat under the Geico/Factory Connection Honda tent all ready for the 1st practice.Rob Koy
Derik and the Showa suspension tech go over the suspension settings before the 1st practice.Rob Koy
RJ and Derik come from behind the starting gate to line up for the 1st timed session.Rob Koy
RJ didn’t waste any time in the session as he went for a fast lap on the 2nd lap of the session. The track was a little wet and muddy from the overnight prep so the track would hold moisture throughout the day.Rob Koy
RJ was one of the first 250 riders to launch off the tunnel jump in the 1st practice. Soon after, I started to see more guys doing the double jump that was a stretch on a 250. RJ turned a 2:14.958 on his last lap of the session and ended up being the fastest qualifier in the session.Rob Koy
Derik does a gate drop during the five-minute practice start session before the 2nd timed practice. RJ did four starts in the session.Rob Koy
RJ takes the inside rut through the corner before the sand rollers. Many riders were going to the far outside rut as it was way smoother and not as deep as the inside. RJ took the inside rut the whole session and was able to turn his best lap of a 2:14.461on his last lap. This gave him the 6th fastest time of the 2nd session and the 6th gate pick going into Moto 1.Rob Koy
RJ gets his race face on before the start of Moto 1 while Derik gets RJ’s goggles out of its bag.Rob Koy
RJ didn’t get the start he wanted in Moto 1 as he was credited with 14th place after the first lap. He was caught up in a 2nd turn crash and said he couldn’t get going until the about half way. Here RJ takes some roost as he passes the mechanics' tents on the 3rd lap of the Moto.Rob Koy
RJ takes the outside line on the turn before the huge uphill triple to gain momentum and speed to be able to do the triple.Rob Koy
RJ launches off the face of the triple as the fans look on.Rob Koy
Around the halfway point RJ was able to make a few passes, taking the inside rut while Justin Hill went way outside in this corner. RJ said that they made a wrong suspension change to the bike before the 1st Moto which caused him to feel uncomfortable the whole Moto.Rob Koy
RJ scrubs the single jump by the manager's tower late in Moto 1. RJ went back and forth in the 10-12th position and ended up finishing the Moto in 12th place. Between Motos the team went back to the original setup that RJ felt comfortable with in the 1st timed practice.Rob Koy
In Moto 2 RJ got another fair start as he was recorded with a 9th place start. Ironman has a unique first turn with its off camber downhill left turn.Rob Koy
RJ dodges the roost in the opening laps as he was able to make a couple passes early and get into 6th place on lap 3.Rob Koy
RJ takes the inside line through the sand rollers.Rob Koy
RJ finds a smoother line on the left side of the track on the straight before the start straight. Many riders were going either to the far right or far left to avoid the deep ruts in the middle of the track. RJ used this inside line on his teammate Chase Sexton when their lines came together in the rutted turn going up the start straight.Rob Koy
RJ uses all of his Showa works suspension as he goes up the rutted face of the single jump by the announcer/manager's tower.Rob Koy
RJ takes an outside rut off the single jump by the tower as he gets ready to scrub off the face to stay low on the downhill landing. Notice how the ruts curve to the right as this jump had a slight curve to it. If RJ went straight off this jump he would've landed off the track.Rob Koy
RJ crosses the finish line as his shortened Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season came to an end.Rob Koy

RJ went 12-5 for 7th overall and finished the season in 11th place with missing the first three rounds of the series and 3 DNF’s because of bike problems. RJ said that his season is not over yet as he is excited to race the USGP next week at WW Ranch in his home state in front of family and friends. Then he plans on going up to Maine to MX 207 a few weeks later for the Dream 125 race that is held there every fall. After that the team will start testing the new 2018 CRF250 before RJ can start to enjoy his off season.