Rare is it you hear a rider say such positive things about a motorcycle. Justin Barcia is there, though, on his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas.
“The bike is very forgiving, it’s easy to tune, and four or five races ago we found a good setting,” Justin Barcia told our Steve Matthes after recording third place in Seattle. “I can throw it around. It’s flickable, you know? This bike is good, I’m enjoying it. I’m happy, for sure. A better start would put me in a better position, but overall, my speed is really good, bike is really good, and yeah that’s a good combo.”
Barcia has three podiums this season and has finds himself just four points out of fourth in the standings (quietly, Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson and Barcia are having a heck of a duel for fourth in points). Barcia usually nabs a few podiums and a solid finish in the standings, though. What’s getting attention this year is how he is doing it. The old Barcia was a great starter and then fought like hell to keep his position. This year, he’s the one making the passes. He’s even kept them clean! Most of his rides have been of the come-from-behind variety, but he’s not even over thinking his starts. Instead of re-inventing the wheel on those, he’ll just keep executing what he knows, and eventually a good start will come. If he does, a win is in the cards.
Barcia started this year at the end of a two-year deal with GasGas, and he has not been shy about saying it’s his contract year. Throughout the season, he mentioned a few times that he didn’t have anything in place yet for ’23. But as he’s gelling with the motorcycle and showing speed on the track—this might be the fastest we’ve ever seen the 51—it would seem like a return is becoming inevitable.
“It’s looking good,” he said last night on the PulpMX Show. “That’s the plan and we’ll just work on getting it sorted out.”
When a rider rallies on the last year of his deal, you’ll hear talk of “contract year” and how that motivates to perform. Barcia mentioned that, to him, this is not actually how it works. Most factory contracts are loaded with big bonuses for wins and podiums. No matter what the contract status, a rider has to perform to really make money. Barcia has assured everyone around him he’ll keep digging and working in the future, no matter how long his deal runs. Bonus money pays well!
Barcia has now mentioned wanting to race another two or three years. He’s now 31, but as has been the recent trend in the sport, he’s only getting better.
“This weekend I found a good feel, not just on the bike, but I was patient a bit,” said a man known for charging and revving to his own detriment. “It took me about half the race to get to fourth, and then I just cracked on. I didn’t override.”
You’re seeing signs of Barcia’s experience when he explains how he picked his way around the tough Seattle track.
“It was nasty enough, that’s for sure,” he said in the post-race press conference. “When they tarp it the water sits in the bottom a little bit and you get these spongy spots, and then almost these walls. It’s hard on the wrists and hard on the hands. But it had a lot of lines in the corners. I got kind of stuck in that jumping line in the whoops, then, as Eli [Tomac] said, he was skimming to the left and I picked that up mid-way through. That was my spot for sure, picked up a lot of spots in the whoops. But all in all, the track definitely broke down. The braking bumps are gnarly on supercross suspension. You definitely have to have a good bike.”
We have so much data on Barcia, who entered the 450 class full time in 2013, that it would seem impossible that he could make a step up to another level of speed at this stage in his career. He might be there, though, and that should be enough to keep him in the fight for a few more years.
“I don’t know what a peak is! But I’m finding it right now, it took me 31 years,” he said with a laugh. “Honestly, it’s just the patience, learning through the years. I wish I had learned a lot of these things sooner, but I want to race for a few more years so I have plenty of time to win more races and battle for championships with these guys.”
