2020 has been a season of ups and downs for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire. It was up in the air whether or not he’d be able to race the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship after going in for ACL surgery back in the spring, but he came out at one-hundred-percent for the season opener at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Hampshire had a tremendous performance in the mud at the second round of the season and looked as though he was going to be a title contender, but an untimely string of crashes has derailed his championship chances late in the season. He was in the fight for 3rd place overall in the series after his moto win at Loretta Lynn’s II and an overall win at Redbud II, but it’s all come unraveled over the past couple of rounds.

This past weekend at Thunder Valley, Hampshire had two hard crashes in the opening moto as he was fighting through the pack. The Husqvarna rider had some serious pace but his race came to an end early when he swapped out and hit the ground on a gnarly uphill section, breaking a couple of bones in his hand. He didn’t go to the gate for the second moto and following the race on Saturday evening, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team announced that he will sit out out the series finale at Fox Raceway this coming weekend. All of this comes off the back of a spectacular crash at the seventh round of the series in Jacksonville where Hampshire was separated from his bike mid-air, miraculously escaping serious injury.

“It’s a disappointing way to end my season,” said Hampshire in the statement from the team. “I hit the ground hard the past couple weekends and today finished it off. It’s a pain riding injured and always seems to lead to more. I have a couple broken bones in my right hand but everything is in place so surgery shouldn’t be needed. My body needs a few weeks to recover. I’m bummed for myself and the team but we have a lot more to look forward to!”