Barcia Takes Another Top-10 Finish on Tough Night in Salt Lake City

04-06-2020

Barcia Takes Another Top-10 Finish on Tough Night in Salt Lake City

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s Justin Barcia ended the night with another eighth-place finish at Round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. His teammate Aaron Plessinger also repeated last Sunday’s result, overcoming a bad start to finish 12th.

After a tough first race back last Sunday in dry, slick conditions, riders lined up a few days later for the sport’s first ever Wednesday night race. Although they were met with much better track conditions, the technical track, more specifically the whoops section, proved to be a challenge.

Barcia and Plessinger had a decent finish in their Heat, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, and made some improvements for the Main Event. When the gate dropped, the veteran of the team got off to a great start and into the top three. Unfortunately the whoops were still a struggle and Barcia found himself shuffled back to eighth.

On the flip side, his teammate Plessinger did not get the start he was hoping for and got jammed back behind a group of riders and found himself 20th. The 2018 250SX West Champion put his head down and steadily worked his way forward. Around the halfway mark he really started to find his groove and was able to advance to 12th.

The team returns to action this Sunday, June 7, for Round 13 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Jim Perry

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

“It was another challenging night for the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team. We had our hands full all day, both guys struggled with the track conditions. They were much better than they were on Sunday, there was much more moisture in the track. However there was a gnarly set of whoops and that was our Achilles Heel. We’ll regroup and come back for the third event Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City.”

Justin Barcia

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team

“We definitely had better track conditions today, the traction was much better, but the whoops were very difficult. We made changes throughout the day searching for that happy setting. I got off to a pretty good start in the Main Event and was running well, but unfortunately got to the whoops and just couldn’t get through them all night. I’m proud of the team for making great changes today and it was a lot of hard work on everyone’s part. We’re just going to keep working and won’t be happy until we’re up front.”

Aaron Plessinger

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team

“I struggled a lot throughout the day with setup. I didn’t qualify too well in the first session, I was just sliding around a lot and not really hitting the whoops like I wanted to. We got better in the second qualifying. I felt a lot better in that one and was flowing a little bit, but in the Heat race I got off to a bad start and fought my way to eighth. In the Main Event, I got an even worse start. I was messing around with some dudes in the back and couldn’t really get going until the halfway mark and worked my way up to 12th from 18th.

“It’s not where we want to be. We’re going to have to make some adjustments and get better starts and finish where we need to. I’ve got a good feeling about these next two rounds. I’m looking forward to it.”

2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX SLC Round 12 Results

2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship Standings