VOLUME 57 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 7, 2020 P57
YAMAHA BECOMES THE
FIRST-EVER MANUFACTURER
TO SWEEP BOTH CLASSES
AT THE MONSTER ENERGY
SUPERCROSS
SERIES OPENER
TWO YEARS
IN A ROW
STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVE COX
I
t was easy to dismiss Justin Barcia's 450SX
main-event win at the 2019 Monster Energy
AMA Supercross Series opener at Anaheim 1;
it was raining after all, and everybody knows Bar-
cia is outstanding in the rain. But as the series
went on last year, Barcia struggled. This year,
Barcia's Monster Energy Yamaha team came
into Anaheim 1, having spent the off-season with
their new technicians building an entirely new
bike setup for each of their riders. In normal,
dry conditions at Anaheim 1, Barcia once again
went out and won both his heat race and the
main event after a race-long battle with Monster
Energy Kawasaki rookie Adam Cianciarulo.
And in the 250SX West class, defending champ
Dylan Ferrandis qualified on top but suffered a
poor start and ended up finishing second to his
teammate Justin Cooper, who won his first-ever
AMA Supercross main event. It was the second
year in a row that the Monster Energy/Yamalube/
Star Racing Yamaha team went 1-2 in the Anaheim
1 250SX main event; last year, it was Colt Nichols
taking the win over Ferrandis.
After Anaheim 1 2020, one thing seems certain:
Justin Barcia's bike setup seems to be on point, so
we'll see how far he can go with it this year.
