JUSTIN BARCIA - GRIT 230 450MX

JUSTIN BARCIA | GRIT-230 | 450MX

GasGas' Justin Barcia would look to rekindle his pattern of successful results that were established in this year's Supercross Championship...but the road to redemption via top-ten overall(s) would be anything but easy as he stormed onto the track at Unadilla last weekend. After overcoming adversity in both moto's, the native of New York then began to partake in a myriad of practice laps on Saturday at Budd's Creek - where he returned to form, claiming a sixth in overall qualification prior to beginning the two-moto format that followed. Once here, he would do his best to navigate through a problematic first corner, and leap over the step-up thereafter...hovering around the third-place positionprior to beginning a (hopeful) process of moving forward. Barcia was resilient when flying amongst the hillside, weaving through off-cambered corners while hooking his inside foot-peg into the soil. The downhill before the large infield triple would be filled with ruts from left to right, as deep trenches had been carved amongst a series of braking bumps that would cause the various adversaries of the 450cc field immense difficulty. However, Barcia fared well amongst seemingly every high-speed groove; putting a substantial gap between he and Garrett Marchbankswho trailed. The patented "scrubbing" persona of "JB51" would be on display as well when he flicked the chassis in multiple directions over the largest of anthills, all the while stretching the margin between he and Garrett Marchbanks, along with Jason Anderson, for a good bit...but it was Lawrence who eventually overtook the New York native after an incredible defensive stance, leaving Barcia to fourth at the halfway point. Anderson would have to be dealt with, however, and though the tactics of Barcia were stifling to many...Jason would be able to overcome them. Now fifth, there would be a shuffling of positions amongst he, Dylan Ferrandis, and Adam Cianciarulo - with the latter Kawasaki rider fading, all the while the Frenchman possessed enough speed to surpass him on lap twelve. Yet after being overtaken by the Yamaha rider, "AC" was then passed by that of "JB51"...leading to fifth-place being sustained, with only minutes left. Eventually finalized here, Barcia was eager to begin the next moto in the hours to follow. Following the second gate-drop, Justin was in direct contention for the lead after an excellent manual(ing) maneuver amongst the rollers before the finish-line. Once into second, he would defend the hard-charging Chase Sexton for as long as possible, before being overtaken on the third lap. Residing here for a significant portion of the moto, it wasn't until lap twelve when the battle between he and Aaron Plessinger would lead to a climatic moment of sorts; when the sly maneuvering of the KTM rider was enough to move ahead of the New York(er) once and for all, with the final-quarter of the moto approaching them. And even with Jason Anderson's hard-charging efforts in the closing moments, Barcia's ability to outlast many of his opponents would be incredible given his recent injuries...and as he crossed the line with fourth-place in hand, a tremendous fifth-place overall accolade would be well deserved.

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