One thing that happens when you take corners out of a supercross race is it shows how technically incredible the best in the world are when attacking jumps and scrubbing. Arguably one of the best at it is Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas rider Justin Barcia who threw some incredible scrubs on his way to a third-place finish at this past weekend’s Red Bull Straight Rhythm event.
It’s a race that suits Barcia well, but it still presented its challenges with two-strokes and the rain that came late in the day. After the event, we caught up with Barcia to talk about how such a unique event feels from inside the helmet.
Racer X: Alright, Justin Barcia at Red Bull Straight Rhythm. Well third for you on the day in what was a pretty wild day. Started raining toward the end there, what did you think about it all?
Barcia: I thought it was an awesome event. It was a lot of fun. The track was good. Two-strokes are sick. And then the rain came [laughs]. It made it like an ice-skating rink. The metal was really sketchy dropping off. I barely made it off the last race. But Hanny [Josh Hansen] made a big mistake in the rhythm section and I was able to capitalize on that and take the third-place spot which was cool. Only a couple days on the bike. I’ve been on vacation in the UK with the family so it’s good to just come out here, hit a podium before the season is up, and start working on next year.
Well we know it’s hard to not spin a rear tire on a two stroke even in dry conditions. How much worse is it in the wet?
It was gnarly. Like Hanny said, he didn’t lock his start button down, and I should have done that. I didn’t think about it. That would have helped. And honestly maybe third gear would have been good as well. So, I wish I would have adapted quicker but it was chaotic. It was wild man.
How was this track compared to some of the ones you’ve done in the past? Was it better, worse, gnarlier, the same?
I think the build was really good. I just rode Corona and it’s pretty worn out from last year. The whoops were mellow here, but the jumps were pretty peaky for the two strokes. It was good though because it made it technical where you had to time stuff good and be super precise so all in all I think the track was really good. The event location was insane.
How about that big bathroom jump? Seemed like you guys had fun with it.
What was that jump called?
I think it was over a bathroom…
The bathroom jump was insane. [Fan next to us then called it the “Shit Kicker”] The Shit Kicker! [Laughs] I like that! That’s a good name for it. Honestly, I will say I feel like I had one of the bigger whips. Me and Kenny [Roczen] were definitely in competition for the biggest whip. I had a mean one this morning in practice. That was pretty sick.
Which was your favorite matchup of the day then?
I mean, it’s always cool; I never really raced Hanny, so it was kind of cool just to ride with him. I think his style is sick, so it was cool to race him. Kenny was really strong. He was pushing a little bit harder than me off the Shit Kicker, they call it, I guess. The fans call it the Shit Kicker! He scrubbed it hard and stayed low, so I think he made a lot of time up on me there.
Talk a little bit about the bike because obviously they went all out and made a pretty sick bike for you this weekend. It was pretty cool right?
It was awesome, yeah. Full on, it was legit. The bike was fast. We were on carburetor, so it was kind of cool to see the boys get the carburetor tuned up and running good and just kind of go old school to see that. I kind of like it. The bike ran great. The suspension was really good. The graphics were sick. My gear was sick. Everybody went above and beyond for me, so it was rad.
Lastly, the environment. We’re here at the beach. It’s got to be cool to take off and look over and see the ocean right there.
Oh it was unbelievable. Red Bull goes above and beyond for us. This event was definitely one of the most chill events I’ve been to. It kind of felt like a Euro event, but the location blows any other location away.
