Page 42 - Issue_78

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 MX / 4TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> The 450 class can be considered the pinnacle of this sport; as many riders aspire, and dream of reaching this highly-touted position, from the moment they climb aboard their rst motorcycle. They yearn, dreaming to land factory contracts and adorned throughout the motorcycle industry. But once here, they must realize that there’s no need for awe or to be shell-shocked by the level of magnitude they’ve reached. They must embrace it, and be one with the moment. Justin Barcia is a master of visualization, con- stantly hopping back and forth between a zen-like state, and his normal personality. It’s
a mindset that can be easily placed back and forth, but when’s he on, there’s no getting him out of this warrior disposition. He simply walked thru the competition in quali cation, bulldozing these moguls and roller sections with a full of hand of throttle and might. Float- ing the front end wherever possible, his fender and fork guards hardly had any soil on them once practice had concluded, because he was keeping the bow of the machine so light. The rst moto however, he would begin to taste a bit of dirt, putting a few specs of California soil among both his mouthpiece and front number plate. With a birds-eye view of the lead, he began to swoop in and out of these gigantic hills, rallying on the outside
of every bowl turn he could. Nearly on the rear edge of the seat, it was all he could do to keep the beast tamed, as he placed the scope on the back of Benny Bloss’ jersey. It was very signi cant, drawing close to a boiling point, as the battle would heat up. He would work his away around, and all seemed to be well, until a wash in one of the in eld right- handers, would place him in seventh. Remounting, he would go onto nish sixth. The topsoil of sand would begin to get swept away a bit for the commencement of the second moto, and a hard-pack, notorious west coast style track would emerge. He would excel, running the bike a gear tall in some of these at corners, and sticking to a few of the inside grooves; especially around the nish line area. However, corners where the berms would be cast a bit too far, his idea of hugging the tuff-blocks would pay off, shaving bits and milliseconds off little by little. Finding himself nearing Weston Peick, the two would begin to eye each other in the far sides of the track, leaping beside each other over the series of outbound gaps and triples. Coming back nearing the nish line, he would make the position his, as he dug through the inside of the sweeping left-hander and over the crest of timing and scoring. Pushing until the absolute bitter end of the moto, his spot on the last go around would be fourth, good enough for fourth overall.
42 GRITMOTO • MAY 27, 2018