VOLUME 57 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 6, 2020 P59
HAMPSHIRE OUT
RJ Hampshire says he will sit out
the final round at Pala after suffer-
ing a series of big crashes lately,
including a couple at Thunder Valley.
Hampshire pulled out after a second
crash in the first moto and did not
start the second moto. He revealed
that he has multiple broken bones in
his hand, forcing his early withdrawal
from the 250MX championship. He
is currently seventh in the champion-
ship and will finish out the season
in that spot, since he's more than
50 points ahead of the nearest rider
behind him. "It's a disappointing
way to end my season," Hampshire
said. "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."
TURNED AWAY
Promoter David Clabaugh had been
working with local and state health
officials ever since the beginning of
the pandemic back in March in the
hopes of find a way to allow Thunder
Valley's annual stop on the Lucas Oil
Pro Motocross tour, which goes back
to 2005, to happen, with or with-
out spectators. In the end, he was
told that he could have a maximum
of 3500 attendees on hand, not
counting the paddock's race teams,
privateers, sponsors and industry
workers. When Saturday turned out to
be a perfectly cool autumn day, a late
rush of hopeful attendees had to be
turned away, as the event was consid-
ered sold-out before any motorcycles
made it out on the racetrack.
Briefly...
Eli Tomac chalked
up his second win
of the season to the
delight of the home
crowd. The win
keeps his title hopes
alive—barely.
Cianciarulo came
within a near-crash
of the overall
victory.
