Team USA’s RJ Hampshire endured a luckless campaign at the 76th edition of the Motocross of Nations (MXoN) on his way to sixth overall in MX2 at Ernee, suffering misfortune in qualifying and both motos.

Hampshire scored the holeshot in Saturday’s qualifying heat, but would unfortunately become a victim to the slick roller section on lap one and go down. Still, he was able to regroup and recover to P5.

The number two then crashed early in moto one, but charged from the rear of the pack to finish 16th in the combined MXGP and MX2 encounter. Faced with another tough start in moto two after being caught out in a first-turn pile-up, Hampshire charged to a spirited 10th-place finish in the Open and MX2 affair, which was enough to earn him sixth place in class.

“Just an unreal experience and something I’m going to look back on and just appreciate it,” Hampshire reflected. “I felt really good on the bike for how gnarly the track was.

“I needed some luck and I just didn’t have it today. First moto, I got cleaned out the first lap with a decent start, and second moto, got in a first turn pile-up. You’re going to get everything I have and that was it the second moto, but like I said, I felt really good, so just a huge thank you to this whole organization, Husqvarna, Rockstar, and everyone supporting us.

“This is, like I said, a once in a lifetime experience and opportunity. I’ll earn my way back on this team again, am looking forward to it and a better result. But all-in-all, really happy to have made this trip, we won’t hang our heads low and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks off now.”

Team USA ultimately finished eighth in the 2023 MXoN standings, with France victorious ahead of Australia and Italy inside the top three.