Justin Barcia makes his professional Supercross debut in Indianapolis.
One of the hottest rookies competing this weekend inside Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium is Justin Barcia. The 17-year-old rider is about to begin his first season of competition within the Monster Energy East Coast
Supercross Lites series aboard Honda’s fully redesigned 2010 CRF250R (Find out how this bike performs in the
2010 Honda CRF250R First Ride).
This young dirt bike racer from Georgia is racing with the Geico Powersports
Honda squad, the same team in which he made his professional motocross racing debut last summer within the Lucas Oils AMA Motocross series. In his first year, Barcia finished on the podium eight times and even won the first moto at Southwick in Massachusetts. He eventually finished the season fifth overall, two spots back from his teammate and veteran series rider Brett Metcalfe. Not bad for a rookie.
WHAT HE’S BEEN UP TO THE LAST FEW WEEKS:
All I’ve been doing is testing non-stop. Back at home in Georgia and at Millsaps Training Facility (MTF). Just riding my butt off—motos, sprints, starts—all that kind of stuff. I’ve been at the Honda test track too, testing suspension and motors and just trying to get my bike dialed for the start of the season. I feel really good on the bike. It’s a whole new bike for 2010 so it’s been a lot of work to get the bike perfect. But overall it has been really good.
WHY HE’S RACING THE EAST COAST SERIES AS OPPOSED TO THE WEST:
I’ve never really raced Supercross before so after the outdoor season we decided that I’ll do the East Coast series. I live in Georgia so I’m already on the East Coast and it gives me a little extra time to prepare for the Supercross season.
Barcia will be piloting the all-new 2010 Honda CRF250R in the East Coast Supercross Lites class.
I’ve ridden Supercross a lot before at MTF. I’ve been practicing it for a long-time since I was on little bikes. So I’m not really nervous. I’ve been riding this kind of stuff since I was a little kid so I all in all I feel pretty good.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPERCROSS AND MOTOCROSS:
Supercross is a lot harder. It’s really technical. Outdoors you’re on the pipe wide-open, blowing through corners, sweepers, and big jumps. Supercross also has big jumps too, but the whoops are really tough. I’ve been practicing them a lot. You don’t have whoops in outdoors but I feel really comfortable through that stuff. Pretty much the difference between the two is more jumps and technical stuff.
WHAT HE PREFERS MOTOCROSS OR SUPERCROSS:
It’s pretty hard decision. Actually, I couldn’t really decide because I’ve never raced a full SX season. But by the end of this season maybe Supercross will be my thing [laughs].
HIS THOUGHTS ON THE REDESIGNED 2010 HONDA CRF250R:
I love the bike. I think it’s better than last years for sure. I rode it stock for awhile without any parts and the bike was great right out of the box. For me it fits my rider style better. The fuel-injection works great and is just awesome. No bogging ever and it feels like it revs out a little bit longer. It just feels really comfortable for my riding style.
Barcia is trading his patented No. 151 for No. 17 for the ’10 Supercross season.
I feel like I’ve got a little more experience now than I did at the start of last year’s season. I think I can do really well and should do better than I did in outdoors. I’ve been riding with some really good guys and my bike is really good right now. I feel like I can get on the podium and win some races.
ON THE COMPETITION:
There are so many guys. It’s going to be a stacked year. A lot of guys are racing East Coast. Getting a top-10 is going to be tough. There is a ton of fast guys. Everyone is going to be the competition [laughs].
