Justin Barcia Out For Rest Of 2019 Supercross Season
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Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing has announced that after a series of hard crashes and lasting injuries, Justin Barcia will sit out the final three rounds of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series. The season has been up and down for the Yamaha rider, as he started the year by winning the 450 Main Event in the mud at Anaheim One and six other top-ten finishes through the first eight rounds but was sidelined for two events after a practice crash resulted in a concussion and injuries to his shoulder. He returned to action at the Indianapolis Supercross with a fifth-place finish, but the last three rounds have been marked by hard crashes and poor finishes. The nonstop schedule of the series gave Barcia little time to heal up between events and this forced him to pause his weekly practice routine in favor of rest and recovery. The decision to sit out the final three rounds of the season (Denver, East Rutherford, Las Vegas) will give Barcia a chance to return to full health and prepare for the upcoming 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, which begins in May.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing will finish out the season with Josh Grant, who is riding in place of the injured Aaron Plessinger, aboard the YZ450F motorcycle. Barcia is currently in the first portion of a multi-year contract with Yamaha, a deal that came together after a successful stint as a fill-in rider in 2018.
The press release from Yamaha, including quotes from Barcia and Team Manager Jim Perry, is posted in full below…
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team rider Justin Barcia will sit out the remaining three rounds of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship to spend the time needed to return to full fitness.
Barcia made a valiant comeback from a training crash in late February, but unfortunately, nagging injuries remained. The Supercross season-opening Anaheim 1 winner has yet to return to 100% fitness and after consulting with his doctor and the team, the decision was made to focus on healing those injuries as a priority.
“Monster Energy Supercross is a demanding series, racing every weekend. Justin has been battling injuries from the midpoint of the season and needs the time to recover and heal up. Sitting out the final three events is a hard call, however, getting back to 100%, the place he started the season is the number-one goal. It will be a bummer not seeing the #51 YZ450F line up at the gate this weekend, but we will continue moving forward supporting Josh Grant for the final three events.” – Jim Perry
“At this point, it seems that the best thing to do is to let my body recover. I’m just going to keep on training, skip the last few Supercross races and let my body heal up. Thinking about that now, I probably should have done that a few weeks ago because I was injured already but I really wanted to be at the Supercross race with my team and fans and put on a good showing. For right now, I’m going to regroup and be ready for the first Outdoor.” – Justin Barcia
