Page 58 - ISSUE_54

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 MX / 11TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / TILLS
>> If you are a motocross fan then you know that anything can happen at Southwick. Now when we hear “Southwick” a lot of things can pop up into your head, mostly on who is going to finish where, who is fast in the sand. Justin Bar- cia is usually a name that gets thrown in the category as a guy who can impress at the Wick. After a less then stellar year Barcia was looking forward to turning things around at one of his favorite tracks, which also turns out to be the midway point of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series.
The JGR Suzuki rider started around 10th position in moto one but quickly got himself to 5th. Barcia then got onto the rear wheel of his teammate Peick and got around him quickly also. Justin stayed in 4th for the rest of the race until just a half a lap to go when his bike died. It looked as if Barcia had a mechanical
at first but after further evaluation it was diagnosed as a fuel problem. On the plus side for BamBam all of this happened at the very end of the race and how lapped traffic worked he finished 12th instead of a DNF. The #51 was able to get himself in the top 5 early once again in moto two by the end of lap one Barcia was in 3rd. Title contenders Marvin Musquin and Blake Baggett where holding down first and second position and most thought that the two would separate themselves from Barcia. That was not the case as Barcia began to apply the pressure to Baggett right away. After 5 minutes of running inside of the top three Barcia made a mistake and went down this put the #51 in 12th. Moments later BamBam bumped into more adversity to overcome as he dropped outside of the top 20. Barcia eventually would come home with 11th overall after two 12th place finishes. Not exactly the weekend Justin wanted but he did have podium speed all weekend, next stop Millville.
58 GRITMOTO • JULY 9, 2017