Barcia matched his season-
best finish with a second place
in Atlanta. The GasGas rider,
who announced on Saturday
that he's signed a two-year
extension with the team, found
himself locked in battles all day.
Barcia was credited with the
heat race win early in the day
after Jason Anderson received
a penalty, and then challenged
for a podium in the main. He
and Roczen went back-and-
forth, as they have many times
this season, but Barcia eventu
-
ally gained the advantage. He
cruised it in for his fifth podium
of the year, his third in a row.
The 51 and the 94 are now sepa
-
rated by just one point as they
sit fourth and fifth, respectively,
performance he's been needing
all season with a near start-to-
finish victory—no mistakes, no
hiccups. The number-23 led all
15 laps of Saturday's main event
and put his name back in the
championship conversation.
With Webb and Tomac finishing
off the podium, Sexton is now
17 points down with four rounds
remaining.
"Not having Eli and Cooper
on the podium doesn't make it
any sweeter; I guess it means I
made up more points," Sexton
said. "These wins are hard to
come by and each one feels
very special, especially this one.
Leading from start to finish like
that was a good mental barrier
to break through."
VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P63
9 ADAM CIANCIARULO
7TH 450SX
"This was another week with strong
qualifying pace and solid starts, which
are helping me to run with the front
guys more and more each time,"
Adam Cianciarulo said. "After my heat
race crash, I gathered myself quickly
and salvaged as much as I could. I'm
still focused on giving my 100-per-
cent every time I hit the track, so I
carried that mentality into the main.
Even though I was a bit scrapped up,
I focused on hitting my marks while I
battled with those guys and took what
the track had to offer. The end result
was another seventh place."
7 AARON PLESSINGER
6TH 450SX
Aaron Plessinger qualified for the
main event the hard way—via the
LCQ. "[The day] started out pretty
good," he said. "We got the bike di-
aled in practice, but there was some-
thing off with the feeling of my clutch
in the heat—I ended up crashing and
not making it directly into the main
event. I won that and had some fun
with the extra laps, but that led to me
having the outside gate for the start.
I had a decent start anyway, charged
forward, and pushed hard, so it was a
good end to a not-so-great day!"
MYOWNRACE
Barcia has been
sniffing at a win as of
late. He's been on the
podium the last three
races and five times
this season.
