With the unfortunate injuries of so many riders at the tail end of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, the door of opportunity is wide open for privateers to score some good points in these early rounds of AMA Pro Motocross. One such rider who took advantage of that at Fox Raceway was RJ Wageman. Wageman last scored points when he went 16-14 for 15th overall at the Hangtown National in 2021 and he started his day off at Fox Raceway this year in a similar manner with a 16th in the first moto. But then while running in the points again in the second moto, Wageman had a huge crash that bent up his bike pretty bad. He would finish off the moto, but it was ultimately a disappointing 33rd place finish. Despite that, he was still in good spirits at the end of the day about his overall speed and performance.
Racer X: All right, RJ Wageman. Hey, scored points man! First moto, 16th!
RJ Wageman: Yeah, man, I was super stoked. Started off the day with some pretty good practice laps. It was pretty tough. The track was super wet. I was in B practice, kind of bummed on that, but yeah, made it happen. Qualified I think 24th and got off the gate pretty well in moto one and just kind of fought hard. Even though I got off the gate well, I kind of got shuffled, pulled some tear offs and then had to regroup and I think came from 27th to 16th so pretty stoked on the riding. I felt good and to come away with 16th was pretty awesome.
Tell me about what happened in the second one. I mean, you were up front off the start. And then what happened?
Man, wow, what a bummer. I’m still trying to process it. I got a really good start. I think I was kind of right outside the top ten and just kind of was riding my own lines. I was kind of with Chiz [Kyle Chisholm], [Fredrik] Noren, and maybe Dante Oliveira, like we were all kind of just battling and it was really awesome. And then I kind of settled, I got really flat. I just kind of ran out of energy. The halfway flag came out and I was like, “Man, I'm definitely getting tired.” I needed to search, and I was looking for smooth lines. The track was just beat up. In the back, you hit the big double and I came down the straightaway, clipped my left foot, kind of cross rutted and just yard saled. Dude, full yard sale. My bike went flying, bent the bars and I got sprung right back up and I tried to get going. I kind of had to sit there for a while and just gather my thoughts and then I was like, “All right, let's finish this thing.” But yeah, I came up with 33rd and just threw away another good moto.
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RJ Wageman Align Media ![RJ Wageman]()
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RJ Wageman Align Media
We know that the field is depleted so points are possible, but riding wise I feel like you looked solid all day. Did you surprise yourself a little bit?
Yeah. I mean, obviously I know the field is a little bit on the weaker side right now. Of course, I think everybody knows that. I always say this all the time, but it's like, I've been riding my whole life. I feel like I know how to ride a dirt bike. When I'm in supercross there are times where I'm like, “Dude, do I know how to ride a dirt bike?” But yeah, I ride a fair amount and I love the sport, so it's really cool. It feels really cool. I mean, I was definitely surprised. But the goal was to be around that top 20. There's always some expectations set, so hopefully we can regroup. My body does not like hitting the ground. Dude, I crashed in Arizona [Glendale] this year at supercross and in New York [East Rutherford] and I'm hurting, so we need some days off and hopefully we can regroup and come back at Hangtown and come out swinging.
Points both motos at Hangtown is the goal?
Yeah, points both motos at Hangtown. I've ridden the new Yamaha 450 four times now. Today was day four, so yeah, I would love to get a day or maybe two this week on it just to mess around with it a little bit more. We made some big changes throughout the day. Jamie [Ellis] from Twisted Development literally mapped the bike before moto one. We were a little nervous to do that, but you know, we figured, “Why not? Why not try some things? I mean, we're racing.” So it's like let's test it. So it was cool it worked out.
Well, some people say bike of the year, do you agree?
I think some people do say that. I think it's really good. I mean the motor is amazing, it's super exciting and it is a lot different from the ‘22. I think they did a good job. I just think maybe it needs a little more attention in a few departments as far as suspension and handling especially. Just for the way a national prep is, you know. I rode it the first day at a local race at LACR. It was amazing. That bike is super sweet, super fun to ride, but I just think it needs a little tweaking here and there to make everyone happy. But yeah, it's definitely a good bike.
