Page 46 - Issue 79

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 MX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> The year 2018 has been quite the revival for Monster Energy Factory Yamaha’s Justin Barcia. At this point, it’s hard to imagine that at the beginning of the year, he was without a factory ride. As we all know by now, he secured that chance at a ll-in spot with his Yamaha team and the rest is history. He looked like a true title threat at the rst few rounds of Super- cross before getting injured. He was fully healthy entering the outdoor season at Hangtown a few weeks ago and he once again showed that he can still be a title contender with a gutsy 3-3 for third overall. He had another solid day of racing a week ago at Glen Helen, but he was looking to return to the podium at round three here in Colorado. Barcia looked exceptionally fast in the morning qualifying sessions. The rider originally hailing from New York threw down the third fastest lap time of the class just behind Ken Roczen’s and Eli Tomac’s fastest times. He looked aggressive and like his old “bam-bam” self so he was more than ready to line it up and get the day of racing started. Barcia powered his Yamaha up the long uphill start and into the rst turn rst to kick of moto number one. Barcia grabbed the holeshot with points leader, and the so far undefeated, Eli Tomac right behind him. Barcia knew he was going to have to put together a special kind of race to keep himself ahead of Tomac and the rest of the eld and he rose to the challenge. Barcia actually built a small cushion between he and Tomac
and it looked like he had a really good shot at the win. But about ten minutes into the race, his momentum was derailed by a red ag meaning they would have to line back up and start all over again. Barcia could not match his holeshot from the rst start and he would come around lap one in sixth. This had to be absolutely de ating for him. He managed to pass Phil Nicoletti on the second lap of the restart but did not have the repower to catch up and challenge the rest of the top four once he got up there to fth. So, from near win, to fth place nish for Barcia in moto one certainly red him up for moto number two. Barcia answered in the second moto by ripping yet another holeshot. He was determined to get a race win after catching a whiff of one in the rst moto. This time around he would have a slew of challengers in tow. Tomac, Roczen, Baggett and Musquin were all at his heels. However, he looked poised and able but on lap three disaster struck, he got an awkward kick from the rear wheel entering some braking bumps throwing him off balance and to the ground. Tomac got stuck on his bike and by the time he was able to remount his Yamaha, he was in sixth place. He was behind Benny Bloss, but the two stripped leads must have put a damper on him as he would not be able to regain any of his lost positions. He would of cially go 5-6 for sixth overall on a day he felt like he might have been able to go 1-1. His frustration will stew until the series picks back up again at High Point in two weeks.
46 GRITMOTO • JUNE 3, 2018