Image: Octopi Media.

Opening round winner Justin Barcia rode to ninth position at Houston 2 despite breaking his shift-lever on lap seven of the 450SX main event, salvaging a vital haul of points.

The TLD Red Bull GasGas rider won his heat race earlier in the night, however, clipping a tuff block and being stuck in first gear ended any hope of back-to-back podiums.

“I didn’t get a very good jump in the main event and we were outside the top five pushing each other,” Barcia explained. “I just cross-rutted a little bit, clipped a tuff block and ended up breaking a shifter off.

“With my luck, it got stuck in first gear, so I did a lap and I was pretty nervous – I missed the triple. I tried the jumps in first gear, but it was squirrelly when the dirt is sticky like that, so I just salvaged what I could.

“I’m in it for the long-run, so I just have to push through things like that when they happen. All-in-all, it’s not that bad of a spot, obviously would have liked to been out front tonight but it wasn’t my night.”

Two rounds into the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season, Barcia is now second in the point standings and a single point behind Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC), who finished fifth last night.