Page 40 - GRIT-80

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 MX / 3RD
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Justin Barcia’s 2018 outdoor season has gotten off to a nice start. Nothing extraordinary but nothing particularly bad for the Monster Energy Factory Yamaha rider. He podiumed con- vincingly at round one at Hangtown and followed it up with a so-so day at a rough and brutal Glen Helen course by going 6-4 for fourth overall. He eagerly wanted to return to the podium at round three in Colorado, but he simply caught some serious strokes of misfortune. He was leading moto one and was comfortably holding Eli Tomac at bay ten minutes into the moto when the race got red agged. He would end up crashing during the moto after the restart and would crash again in the second moto, once again, while leading. He ended up sixth overall and he had a full two weeks for that frustration to stew before he could go out and redeem himself at High Point. Barcia started his day off strong by notching the fourth fastest lap time
in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He looked like his usual bam bam self and his rowdy riding style seemed to suit the rough and tricky east coast style track. He was poised and ready for the day of racing that lay ahead. Barcia got out to a great start in moto number one. He began in third behind Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin but was determined to charge to the front even further. He hounded Musquin for the entire rst lap as the two battled each other very hard. Barcia found the smallest of openings and made a tight pass work at the end of that rst lap. He looked eager and aggressive early on and was determined to at least nish on
the podium and at most nish on the top step. He kept Tomac in his sights for the rst hand- ful of laps and it looked like a battle might brew but on lap ve, Musquin was able to get back by him. Barcia tailed him for a little while longer but eventually lost the pace when Musquin dropped the hammer to go after Tomac. Barcia would nish the race strong but a distant third. He was happy with the result but not happy with losing touch with the leaders late in the race. Barcia got another nice start in the second moto and kicked things off in fourth place. He looked as spunky as he did in the opening moto and kept tabs on the riders in the top three. He just on the outside looking into that lead battle but his moto would take a turn for the worst when he tipped over on lap ve. He only lost one spot, but he also lost his front brake. He did not pull the bike into the mechanics area, he continued the rest of the moto without it which was quite an amazing feat considering how rough and broken down the track was. He nursed his machine home for fth place. His 3-5 would be good enough to earn him third overall on the day and get him back on the podium. I’m sure he would have liked a little performance from himself, but he’ll be able to saddle back up next weekend at Muddy Creek.
40 GRITMOTO • JUNE 17, 2018