It was the moment of the night and RJ Hampshire was in the middle of it! RJ is known for his loose, all-in style but, for Seth Hammaker, it cost him a title with only a couple of minutes left on the clock after being brutally taken out by the Husqvarna rider.
Hammaker had passed Vialle but Hampshire came from the LCQ and a mid-pack start to pass Vialle and catch Hammaker, but he needed to be more that one position ahead of Hammaker to win for the title so Hamphire went for the take-out but took himself out too!
That left Vialle the gift he needed to inherit third and Hammakeer not enough time to catch the always steady Vialle, allowing the two-time MX2 world champ to become a two-time 250 East supercross champ!
OH MY 🤯
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) May 11, 2025
Vialle now back in the championship lead! #SMX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/AGj5GKhLEJ
Hammaker showed tremendous restraint in his interview after his dream had been denied, saying: “It was a great season. Came up a little short, that one’s a bummer when you get that close. That was a crazy race. Got off to a decent start and just chaos from there. Got around Tom, [I] had a little more pace than him at the beginning. And then Juju [Beaumer], [I] got round him but then he kind of ran it in on me and, you know, teammate thing. Just wasn’t really expecting it, shouldn’t have left the door open, I guess. Then RJ was coming in hot in that corner before the finish line, just took us both down. And yeah, [I] just tried to fight all the way to the end to get Tom. We got close, but second place is going to do this season. Huge shout out to everybody, my whole team. I really wanted to get this one done for them but, you know, I’ll be back… Gonna work hard for outdoors, keep this season of building going, and congrats to Tom.”
See his immediate disappointment below thanks to Whiskey Throttle IG:
Hampshire said: ” Today was a very eventful day. I felt good on the bike, then the Heat Race didn’t go so well after having a big one that sent me to my first LCQ in a couple of years. That’s always stressful, so then the outside gate pick for the Main gave me an average start, but I put my head down and charged. I had a chance for the championship at the end there and I went for it, which didn’t go in my favor and it’s unfortunate to take us both down. Overall, I did everything I could, I tried, and we’ll leave here and move on – I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my career.”
While a relieved Vialle commented: “I had a great start. My first five or six laps were actually really good. I was feeling good, and I was like, ‘Okay, this is mine.’ And [then] I started to make a few mistakes and Seth and RJ got me. They got a little gap, and my only chance was that… if something happened [to Hammaker and Hampshire], and that’s what happened tonight. I feel like that was all year, the whole Championship has been up and down, and I could capitalize tonight, and I’m really pumped.”
