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With the earlier qualifying sessions revealing an injury that he wanted to keep hidden, Barcia decided pop a few Advil and suit up for the night show, despite the damage to his thumb. Heat one saw him work his way into fourth by lap two, and unwilling to settle. As the halfway point approached, a roar became all to close; and with a subtle glance over his shoulder, he saw Chad Reed waiting for a moment to pounce. Although a hard fought effort was shown, a mistake by the
JGR rider would put him in ninth by race end.
On the outside looking in, a scenario you don’t want to be placed in, in terms of race position in a semi event. But that’s exactly how it went for JB51, as he sat sixth for the first three laps of a talent-filled consolation bracket. He swept the track from side, urgently searching for a means to pass the 79 of Nick Schmidt. With two to go, he began a cat and mouse exchange with the Suzuki rider, eventually winning the battle and moving on to the big show.
Santa Clara was looking to be a place where Barcia aspired to get his groove back, but an eleventh place start wasn’t in the JGR rider’s vision prior to the race beginning. He was steady, just one outside of the top ten until around eight to go; where a mistake caused him to fall to 13th. He would get into a heated exchange with Josh Grant, as his fitness began to subside, and he was amassing a last ditch effort to remain afloat. It wouldn’t work however, and he would decline to 16th by the checkered flag.
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