Husqvarna's RJ Hampshire finishes second in A2 Triple Crown while Malcolm Stewart gets first top 10 result of the season!
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider RJ Hampshire staged an impressive comeback, securing a well-deserved second-place finish in the 250SX West Class during Round 4 of AMA Supercross action in Anaheim, California. On the same night, 450SX contenders Malcolm Stewart and Christian Craig wrapped up the Triple Crown event with P10 and P14 results, respectively.
Hampshire, astride his Husqvarna Motorcycles FC 250 Rockstar Edition, claimed the pole position in the Anaheim 2 round. He carried that momentum into the opening race of the Triple Crown format, where he secured a noteworthy P2 result.
In Race 2, Hampshire started strong, holding a top-three position before making a decisive pass for the race lead. He managed the race comfortably at the front, ultimately securing a popular Race 2 win.
Despite a minor mishap in Race 3 that briefly saw Hampshire on the ground, he recovered for a seventh position finish. This was sufficient for him to clinch second overall for the night, and he currently holds the third spot in the 250SX West standings.
Reflecting on the night, Hampshire remarked, “It was a solid night at A2, and I was fast all day. We topped all three practices, and the first two races were awesome – I had so much fun battling with Levi [Kitchen], we put on a good show, which was sick. The third race, not a great start, and then just a bit of a mishap. Still made up a lot of points, cut the deficit in half, so I’m stoked on that.”
Stewart began his Anaheim 2 race day by securing the fourth-fastest qualifying time in 450SX overall. Despite an unfortunate fall while battling inside the top 10 in Race 1, he managed to finish in 11th place. Races 2 and 3 saw Stewart improving his position on each occasion, collecting P10 and P9 results, resulting in a 10th-place finish for the night – his best of the season upon returning from injury.
“A2 for me, there are positives to take,” said Stewart. “I was P1 in the first qualifier and then was affected by some tough starts in the races for the Triple Crown. Went down in Race 1 with Hunter [Lawrence], came back to 11th. Then the others, just struggled with starts again, but I’m getting back into the swing of things – I haven’t raced for a long time, so this one really felt like A1 to me. We’re heading in the right direction and it’s going to come, so we’ll keep on trucking into Detroit.”
In the 450SX category, Craig secured the 15th-fastest qualifying time. However, he faced challenges, going down on the opening lap in Race 1 and recovering to finish P17. A 12th place in Race 2, along with a 13th-place finish in the third race, earned him 14th overall for the weekend.
“My day started decently, and qualifying went okay,” Craig commented. “It was nice to be on a dry track after the last couple of weeks, but yeah, I went down in the second corner in Race 1 and was way, way back. Inched up, did what I could, then in the second one I think I got 12th. Race 3, not enough intensity at the start, got passed a bunch, and then had to try to make those passes back. It has been a frustrating start to the season, but we’ll keep trying.”