Page 118 - ISSUE _38

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 SX / 16TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> Justin “Bam Bam” Barcia has been through a lot leading into the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross season. After spending the last two seasons on board the JGR Ya- maha, the team decided to move into a new direction and switched over to Suzuki’s, which left Barcia with a decision of his own to make. He decided to remain with the team and thus, testing began to try and get the bike ready for the rapidly approach- ing season. The team sent Barcia to a few overseas SX races that would allow
them to test some parts and get Justin a little more comfortable on the bike in racing situations. He had mixed results but still gained valuable seat time. Once it finally seemed as though Barcia was ready to come into the 2017 season with a full head
of steam, he had an uncontrollable crash in the whoops at the practice track, which was rumored to be caused by a broken rear sprocket. He sustained injuries to both wrists and would be force to miss the first few rounds of Supercross. Last weekend
in Minneapolis was his first race back from the injury, and the once perennial podium threat didn’t quite have the results that he trains for, finishing 17th. He would come into this weekend’s round in Atlanta looking to move into the top 10 where he belongs. The day wouldn’t start off too well for Barcia. He didn’t look comfortable on the track
in qualifying and was only able to muster a measly 16th fastest qualifying time. With that qualifying position, he would have the 8th gate pick in the first heat of the night for the 450’s. A mid pack start would leave him with some work to do in the heat to move straight into the night’s main event. He would run 5th on the first lap and was almost
5 seconds off the leader with 3 minutes left in the heat. He would go on to finish just where he started the heat after a good battle with Cole Seely and would be forced into the nights second semi race. Barcia would start the semi in 6th place but would find his way into 4th after the first few corners. He would settle in there for a few laps and eventually make his way into 3rd place once he was able to get around Mike Alessi. He would move on to the main via a 3rd place finish in the semi. Barcia started the main event off as bad as he could, making the first corner in dead last. By 5 minutes into the race, Barcia would find his way into 14th, just ahead of Dean Wilson and just behind Malcolm Stewart. He would battle with multiple riders throughout the race but was unable to improve his position. He would fall as low as 16th before finally finishing the race there. This is not what most expected of Barcia coming into the season. He will head into the next round trying to get back to his full potential after coming off the injury that held him out of the first 6 rounds of the season.
118 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 26, 2017