Image: Octopi Media.

A resurgent Justin Barcia ‘gave it everything’ in Indianapolis, narrowly missing out on a season-first 450SX victory following a spirited charge in the main event at round nine.

Qualifying fourth fastest, Barcia delivered a commanding heat race win in Indy, overcoming Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) to take the checkered flag with a 2.634s advantage.

Having also made his way past Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) throughout the bout, Barcia entered the main event in a position of strength. Amidst the deteriorating conditions, the number 51 charged from outside of the top five right up onto the back wheel of Roczen, missing out on the top spot by just 0.739s come race-end.

“Yeah, I wanted to win for sure,” Barcia recalled. “That’s the goal, today was a good day and I had a lot of fun. I was gelling with it, I liked the track, it was gnarly. It’s why we do all of this training and fitness, because the tank is empty, I gave it everything that I had and Kenny rode a great race, everyone rode a great race, it was intense.

“I’m happy, for sure, haven’t been on the podium, last week was close and I knew how I felt last weekend that coming here I would be good. Had a good week at home, and yeah was just being smart, keeping it on two wheels and obviously being fast. I felt like my speed was good today, and the bike was awesome.”

The P2 in Indy is a timely boost for Barcia, marking his best result to date in 2023 Supercross and his second podium of the season. He is sixth in the 450SX standings as the championship moves to Ford Field, Detriot this Saturday for round 10.