Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s Justin Barcia finished third in Moto 1 but a crash in Moto 2 saw him back in 10th for sixth overall.
Teammate Aaron Plessinger suffered from bike trouble in moto one after a good start and did what he could to salvage the day, going 31-18 for 20th overall.
After putting in many hours at the test track in between rounds, the hard work paid off big for Barcia. His newfound confidence had him pushing through the extreme rutted course after a mid-pack start. Despite the challenges of the course, Barcia looked comfortable and pushed his way all the way up to third to finish with his first moto podium of the season. He was on track to repeat his performance from moto one when he went down on the opening lap. Barcia got up as quickly as he could but had already fallen to 15th. He put on a good charge and finished 10th in the moto to score sixth overall.
“In the first moto, I got off into a top-10 start and charged hard. That ride was what we are looking for,” said Barcia. “We obviously want to win, but to get third was a step in the right direction. It was good to see the work we put in on the off weekend turn out a great result. In the second moto, I was mid-pack on the start and was quickly moving through the pack. I ended up hitting a bump and slid out. That put me in the back trying to go forward again. I rode tight after that, but I’m happy with the day overall.”
The opening moto started well for Plessinger who came around the first lap in eighth, but he quickly moved down the charts when he felt something was not right with his bike. After being scored 31st, he didn’t have a great gate pick for moto two, making for a tough start in 28th. Plessinger put his head down to move through the riders in front of him, eventually making it up to 18th. His 31-18 finish put him 20th overall and ready to come back swinging at the next round.
“It was a pretty rough day. I went out, qualified 14th and was having an alright day. Then in the first moto I got a really good start and had just got passed by Jason Anderson when I felt the bike starting to sputter real bad. That was pretty much the end of my moto. Then I went out for the second moto, I had 32nd or 33rd gate pick and got pushed out real wide. I had to come back from that and made it back to about 18th. So it was a rough day. I’m going to go out to California and try to fix what I’m struggling with. We’ll be back at Budds Creek.”
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team returns next weekend for round 11 of the Pro Motocross Championship in Mechanicsville, Maryland for the Budds Creek National on August 18.