RJ Hampshire, Tom Vialle square off in Supercross 250 East
TAMPA, Florida: While not completely unprecedented, having both Monster Energy Supercross 250 regional champions in the same division is a rare occurrence. But that is just one of the scenarios that will be faced by this year's 250 East riders.
RJ Hampshire was scheduled to defend his 250 West title, but a broken wrist suffered during the offseason took too long to heal. A major surgery required the doctors to disassemble and repair a plate and screws, effectively putting him back to square one in his healing process barely nine weeks before the 250 West season began.
As gritty a rider as Hampshire is, it was not enough time.
'If I had to have run A1, it wouldn't have been good for myself,' Hampshire said during Press Day for the opening round of the 250 East division at Raymond James Stadium. 'I wasn't in a good spot, mentally, physically [but now] I feel good. On the bike, I can pretty much do everything I want to do — except for the fact that I'm going to have some pain in my wrist. It's not going to go away but I'm okay with that. ... We're all dealing with something. You see the (other) guys up here. My injury is public; theirs isn't.'
Hampshire and Tom Vialle find themselves in the midst of a stacked 250 East field that was made even more robust by the inclusion of the 250 West champion and the rider who finished second to him last year in that division, Levi Kitchen, who was originally scheduled to ride in the West before an illness during the weekend of the season opener forced his decision to switch coasts.
'Last year was a test for myself to put myself in position and be able to win a championship,' Hampshire continued. 'That mentality; that switch you can have is huge and you don't know it until that position comes. There are a lot of great guys; every week is going to be a grind.'
Austin Forkner, Cameron McAdoo, Pierce Brown, Max Anstie, Nate Thrasher, Seth Hammaker, and Chance Hymas will mount up this week, although McAdoo announced he will make a race day decision as to whether his ACL is healthy enough to execute the full program.
Each of those riders are capable of winning on Saturday but ultimately, the championship may come down to the riders with an already proven ability to win titles.
'Mentally, I feel like Tom and I are the only ones who have been able to put it together,' Hampshire said. 'I think we can both deliver when the time comes.'
While not discounting the other factory riders, Vialle agrees that the depth of the field is something that must be dealt with and is an important step in his development.
'It's going to be interesting and I'm actually pretty excited over the weekend to see how it's going to be — but we race pretty much all year in outdoors and SMX (SuperMotocross League) all together, so it's not a big difference. Once you move to 450s all different guys at the same time. It's nice that a lot of guys can win a race.'
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