It has been a very rough couple of years for Justin Barcia. After a very successful 250 class career riddled with wins and podiums, Barcia’s attempts in the premier class haven’t gone exactly to plan. His rookie season in the 450 class back in 2013 had it’s ups and downs, but was most noticeably marked by two Supercross wins - one in Phoenix and one in Seattle. Unfortunately, that win in Seattle back in 2013 is his most recent win. Henceforth, Barcia has struggled with inconsistent results and injuries, and his last podium finish (before this past weekend) was over a year ago at the Houston Supercross. Since then, an ankle injury in the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and a hip injury in the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross Series has held him back from racing the majority of events. 

"All my hard work and training that I’ve been putting in was good. It’s looking bright."

Fortunately, Barcia seems to have figured things out early on in the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, and he gained his first podium finish last weekend at Glen Helen with a 2nd overall.

It was a good day. We made some progress for sure,” says Barcia about his ride at Glen Helen. "Today really put it back in perspective that I've still kind of got some skills and still can ride a dirt bike pretty good. All my hard work and training that I’ve been putting in was good. It’s looking bright.” he added. 

Barcia’s breakthrough podium ride in 2015 may have come a lot sooner if not for his past injuries. When asked about these injuries, he stated, “It’s been a lot of stuff going on from injuries . . . I didn’t have a ton of time to get used to the bike before Supercross because of injuries. My last outdoor race was Sacramento a year ago. That’s when I got my ankle fixed, and it took forever to heal and do all the therapy and stuff. That was an ongoing process. And then I rode the bike a little and went racing, got hurt again over in Europe. Came back, got hurt testing. So it’s been a lot to bounce back from for sure. At least it’s nice to have a team that believes in me still and thinks I can do it. For me, my confidence was pretty low.”

Barcia, a longtime Honda rider, was hired by JGR Yamaha at the beginning of the season to be their main championship contender. Thus, after a disappointing Supercross season, Barcia and his team have high expectations for the remainder of the Pro Motocross Championship, despite him still getting used to the new bike.

Yeah, new dirt bike, you’re always chasing your tail learning it. I was on another brand forever," Barcia said. "But right now we’re in a good position. Most comfortable I’ve been."

"Still got a long way to go to get to the top, but it’s not out of reach, I don’t think."

When analyzing Barcia’s race from Glen Helen, it’s quite clear to see that both his speed and consistency have been improving. Good starts in both of the motos allowed him to get near the front right away, and his ability to maintain relatively fast lap times throughout the entire race allowed for him to finish on the podium. In fact, Barcia was able to set the fourth fastest lap time of the day in the 450 class during his 2nd place ride in moto 1. However, his lap time was still over 2 seconds off of the winner Eli Tomac’s fastest.

One thing’s for sure: with Barcia’s dedication and sheer talent on a dirtbike, it won’t be long until he’s back riding at his peak potential.

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About the author
Scott Yargeau
I am a current science undergraduate studying physics and physiology at McGill University in Montréal, Quebec. I grew up racing motocross, and to this day, despite no longer racing, I remain a huge fan of the sport. I started up Moto Now Blog in 2014 to talk about everything SX/MX related, and now I write about SX/MX for VAVEL USA. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].