Troy Dog
Notice that this column now has a sponsor? That’s right! Troy Dog joined the Blu Cru and you should too! I have one in my garage right now and I can’t wait to go shred it! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirt bike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true! BTW: Have you seen the all-new YZ450F? OH. MY. GOODNESS. I can’t wait to test that bad boy.
ED NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to Hampshire taking his first SX of 2023 on Saturday in Denver.
I recently had an insightful interview with Rockstar Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire. I mostly just wanted to talk about baseball with him, but he DID just sign a two year contract extension with his team. That is kind of important. He also has an outdoor championship that he’s looking forward to before we get to the next two years, so let’s dive into that.
Hampshire is at a very prestiges point in his career. Sure, the plan is to win as much as possible the next two seasons, but Hampshire believes that he has a very good chance at this summer’s 250MX championship. He said that in years past he’s put himself as more of an outdoor rider and didn’t really gel with SX in the past, but this year has been different.
“I love the suffering of the outdoors,” Hampshire said. “Not many people would say that, but I love the grind, the heat, and the suffering. That’s what I enjoy the most.”
Although he’s 27, Hampshire said that he still feels like an up and comer coming in. He’s been very proud of his improvements in SX this season and he feels like he has so much more fight in him when it comes to his career.
“In years past it’s been such a grind, but man this year has been so fun racing for podiums,” Hampshire said. “People talk, like yeah, he’s been around forever, but my riding and where I’m at has made drastic improvements. If you’ve watched me in years past, and then you watch me this year, you can see a difference in speed. Things have turned around for me in Supercross and I’m just having so much fun with the team, the bike, and racing.”
The Husqvarna team is fully supportive of Hampshire racing a 450 if the team needs it. Hampshire says that if he had more time on the bike this season that he probably would have filled in on some more rounds. After a heat race win, and an 8th place in Daytona on his sole and debut big bike ride, Hampshire raised his stock even more.
“The two year extension, I was super stoked on that because once we started talking about it, it was a done deal within days,” Hampshire said. “The team said that they get a lot of value out of me in the 250 class battling for the lead and I’m not at that level yet to do that on a 450, but we can get there. I’ll use these last couple of years on the 250 to get my feet wet on the 450 and go race it when I can. I think it’ll help me out a lot when I do make that jump full-time.”
For now, Hampshire has set his sights on finishing SX strong and having a season to remember this outdoor season.
“I definitely feel like I have a shot at this outdoor championship coming up,” Hampshire said. “I know we also have a lot of great things coming for our bike that will make huge improvements.”
Also, Hampshire REALLY wants to be picked as a member of Team USA, which should make everyone happy that he wants to be picked for the race. Originally slated to ride for the 2021 rendition of Team USA in Mantova, Hampshire was eager to ride for the stars and stripes before COVID put a stop to the Team’s efforts. He has the support from his team and a great chance to make up for that this year.
“I really want to get picked for that Motocross of Nations team this year,” Hampshire said. “When you talk about goals, I mean that’s a big one for me, that’s huge to represent for your country and go to do that race. I want a championship for sure, that’s definitely a goal, but man, I really want to be on that team.”
Main image: Husqvarna
