Page 20 - Issue_64

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Justin Barcia has undoubtedly been the surprise of the 2018 season. He was left without a ride and was lucky enough to be given a ‘fill-in’ ride with Monster Energy Factory Yamaha towards the end of the offseason. But without the full amount of time to test and get the bike dialed, he roared into Anaheim 1 and took home a third-place finish. Then for all the people calling it a fluke, he followed it up with another one at round two. Two weeks later, he bettered those two rides with a second-place finish. Barcia has emerged as a legitimate title contender on a team he isn’t even contracted with for the entire season. He entered Oakland second in points and ready to fight for another win after he came very close a week ago in Glendale. Barcia was on rails in qualifying practice. He looked ultra-aggressive and exploding with confidence as he made the toughest track of the year look like a cake walk. He was flying around the track and definitely looked like the man to beat once the races began. Barcia picked up immediately where he left off in qualifying practice by nailing the holeshot in his heat race and he had is teammate Cooper Webb right in tow. Who- ever was behind him did not matter because he threw down some heaters and quickly vanished with the lead. He looked unbeatable and flawless on a track where even the other title contenders were struggling with on a lap to lap basis. He’d go on to win the heat race with ease leaving him raring to go for the perfect night in the main event. Barcia nailed the holeshot in his heat race but would fail to do so in the main event. In fact, he was not even close to replicating another hole- shot. He came around the first lap way back in eleventh place and that was after he had already made several passes. All eyes were on him as he tried to make his way forward as quickly as pos- sible. He was riding with such ferocity it was mesmerizing to watch. He was in ninth on lap three when he caught up to Eli Tomac. He wasted little time and drove it in on Tomac, who was not anticipating the move, and made the pass, taking down Tomac in the process. That pass looked to set the tone for the remainder of the race and many were trying to see if he actually had a chance for the win, but his charge began to stall out. He’d pass Weston Peick for sixth on lap seven but by that time, the leaders were long gone. Barcia even started to lose time to the leaders despite not having anyone directly in front of him. However, mid-race, Bam-bam mode got activated once again after Cole Seely remounted from a crash right in front of him. He knew Seely was trying to gather himself after the fall making it the perfect time for a pass. Seely gave him a fight and the two riders diced it out for a good lap, but Barcia emerged with the spot, taking over sixth place. Throughout the remainder of the race he maintained that fifth place position and would hold it to the checkered flag. Barcia has to be so bummed about the outcome of the main event because he was so dominant all-day long. His start hurt him severely leaving him stranded in the middle of the pack. Look for Barcia to come out with a vengeance next weekend in San Diego.
20 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 4, 2018