The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing team returned to racing action at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Tuesday for the 14th round of the AMA Supercross Championship. Justin Barcia once again showcased his true grit with a strong fourth-place performance in Georgia, where he continues to hold fourth overall in the 450SX Championship with three rounds to go.
Rebounding from a rough crash in Atlanta just a few days ago, Barcia came into the day a little banged up and bruised but he started things off with a clean slate by qualifying inside the top-10 aboard the MC 450F. In the heat, he grabbed a fifth-place start and mixed it up with the front-runners early on. While running fifth, Barcia slid out in a corner and lost a position to ultimately finish sixth in the heat. In the Main Event, he got shuffled into a seventh-place start but he set sail early on to climb his way up to third about three laps in. Surrounded by fast company up front, Barcia went to battle for the final podium position and he finished just outside the top-three with a solid fourth on the night.
Barcia: “It was a tough day to start with, I was pretty banged up from my crash at the last race so I was just really glad to be racing. I was running third in the Main Event and shuffled back to fourth, I got pretty tight, but all-in-all it was a good recovery for not knowing if I was going to race this one. It felt good to finish strong but I definitely want to be on the podium and go for the win this Saturday.”
In the 250SX division, Pierce Brown had a solid start to the day as he put together a top-10 qualifying position on a new version of the Atlanta SX track. In the heat race, Brown found himself back in 14th at the start but he fought back to secure a seventh-place transfer into the Main Event. He put himself into a great position off the start of the main, passing up to fourth early on. Unfortunately, the race was red-flagged due to a downed rider and Brown wasn’t able to pick up where he left off, sitting 12th after the second gate drop. He fought his way into the top-10 a few laps in and eventually settled into a groove in ninth before grabbing one more spot on the final lap to secure eighth on the day.
Brown: “We’re getting better slowly, but surely. After the red flag I couldn’t really find my flow out there. I got off to a bad start and it was kind of follow the leader out there with not much passing going on. I did everything I could, put everything out there and ended up with eighth. It’s definitely something to build off of, but I’m hungry for more this Saturday.”
The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing team will dive right back into racing this Saturday, April 17 for the third and final race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Results – 2021 AMA Supercross Championship, Round 14
450SX – Main Event
1. Ken Roczen (Honda) 14 laps; 2. Chase Sexton (Honda) +07.982; 3. Jason Anderson (Husqvarna) +12.665; 4. Justin Barcia (GASGAS) +14.629
250SX West – Main Event
1. Justin Cooper (Yamaha) 11 laps; 2. Hunter Lawrence (Honda) +7.206; 3. Cameron Mcadoo (Kawasaki) +11.225… 8. Pierce Brown (GASGAS) +29.294; 13. Ty Masterpool (GASGAS) +55.880; 15. Chris Blose (GASGAS) +1:03.890; 19. Cedric Soubeyras (GASGAS) +1:25.261
Championship Standings – After Round 14
450SX
1. Cooper Webb (KTM) 313pts; 2. Ken Roczen (Honda) 300; 3. Eli Tomac (Kawasaki) 278; 4. Justin Barcia (GASGAS) 246
250SX West
1. Justin Cooper (Yamaha) 157pts; 2. Cameron Mcadoo (Kawasaki) 148; 3. Hunter Lawrence (Honda) 141… 9. Chris Blose (GASGAS) 86; 13. Pierce Brown (GASGAS) 50; 26. Ryan Sipes (GASGAS) 13