GEICO Honda Bercy Report
October 31, 2011, 10:25am
Barcia wins final race in Paris; Tomac second in 'King of Bercy' rankings
PARIS -- GEICO Honda pro Justin Barcia was easily the quickest rider on the fastest motorcycle throughout the three days of the 29th annual Supercross of Bercy, but it wasn't until Sunday's finale that he earned a trophy.
"I had it all right in front of me this weekend," said Barcia, who led just about every lap of every warm-up race and test from the start of the weekend. "I was riding well and the GEICO Honda 450CFR felt great underneath me. I think I could have swept all three main events and won 'King of Bercy' again, but stuff happened the first two days and it didn't work out. That's racing."
Another rider crossed into Barcia's front wheel and broke several spokes on Friday, ending his race on the first lap. Saturday he was taken out by Greg Aranda and hit by a couple of other riders and was unable to make the call for the main. Then came Sunday, where he simply rode away from any trouble and dominated the field.
"The starts were everything," Barcia said. "When I got good starts I was able to gap everyone and just ride the bike. When people got overaggressive on the first turn, bad things happened. I won tonight because I got a decent start and was able to pass the two guys in front of me right away. Then I just finished.
"I wish it had worked out better but it's good to leave here on a high note. The fans were great and I had fun, so it was a good deal for me."
Teammate Eli Tomac had a chance to win the overall "King of Bercy" title but ended up fifth on Sunday, giving him the second lowest total in the general classification standings behind Kyle Chisholm, who had a win, a runner-up and a third-place result. Tomac's three days yielded a win, a runner-up and a fifth-place finish.
"I tried an outside gate tonight in a kind of all-or-nothing bid to get a holeshot," Tomac said. "It had worked for me in an earlier race but in tonight's main I got shoved out and had to fight for a spot. I think I was 10th or 11th after the first corner and I was playing catch-up after that. To get back up to fifth was pretty good considering the start.
"I wanted to win King of Bercy but Kyle had a cleaner start tonight and I just couldn't catch him. I was grinding a few seconds off each time around but I was just too far back. Still, we all won the overall crown for the USA so that was a nice deal.
"I had a blast. The crowd was so loud and crazy. It was a pretty neat event. I'm really glad we came over here and I'm also glad to be heading home."