MICHAEL MOSIMAN CLAIMS FOURTH AT SALT LAKE CITY SX.
TROY LEE DESIGNS/RED BULL/GASGAS FACTORY RACING’S JUSTIN BARCIA FIGHTS THROUGH ADVERSITY.
The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing team welcomed Michael Mosiman back to the races on Saturday as the 250SX Eastern division gets back on the gas for the final two rounds in Salt Lake City, Utah. Despite some time off, Mosiman didn’t disappoint as he ran up front all day long to come away with fourth in the Main Event. It was a tough day for 450SX teammate Justin Barcia, who found himself on the ground more than enough times at the penultimate round.
In the 250SX division, Mosiman jumped back into the mix after missing the last two “East” rounds due to injury. He picked up right where he left off earlier in the season, grabbing a season-best qualifying position in second. Feeling refreshed and ready to go in the heat race, Mosiman put his MC 250F into a good position off the start but he went down on the opening lap. Charging his way back from dead last, Mosiman rebounded nicely with a third-place finish in the heat.
In the Main Event, Mosiman had another great start to put himself into the lead battle early on. Passing into second on lap two, he pressured the race leader for the first 12 laps before getting caught up in the chaos of lapped traffic. A couple mistakes late in the race caused Mosiman to fall out of podium contention but it wasn’t for a lack of effort as he charged all the way to the checkers for a fourth-place finish.
Mosiman:“It’s been a long time off the bike and a long time off racing but it felt great to get back into it today! I felt like I was the fastest guy out there today, I just crumbled on the race craft, trying to make passes in spots that weren’t ideal and it cost me the win. I believe I was the guy that should have been winning and it’s disappointing but I’m trying to learn from it. I will be better going forward.”
Meanwhile, Barcia had a positive start to his heat race, battling just outside the top-three on lap one. However, he went down on the second lap and his radiator took a big hit, leaving him with no choice but to pull off in order to get the bike prepared for the last chance qualifier. In the LCQ, Barcia immediately charged his way into the lead and swept all seven solid laps to secure a spot in the Main Event.
Despite a bad gate pick, Barcia got off to a pretty good start but he got pushed out and ended up going down hard at the beginning of the race. Starting off in a dead last, Barcia clawed his way up to 11th by the halfway mark and next up was a top-10 battle. However, he found himself back on the ground later in the race and he did what he could to salvage 14th for the day.
Barcia:“I felt really good in practice and in the heat but unfortunately, I ended up going down and tearing my radiator. Thankfully the team got it repaired quickly and got me ready for the LCQ. The Main Event was difficult to say the least. I got pushed out off the start, somehow cross-jumped into the bails and ended up going down and the bike hit me in the back. I charged up to 11th and was still moving forward and then I ended up endo’ing and bending my bike up pretty good. It’s definitely super disappointing on my end but I’m going to regroup and do the best I can do next week to finish the season out strong.”
The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing team will round out the 2021 AMA Supercross Championship next Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Results – 2021 AMA Supercross Championship, Round 16
450SX – Main Event
1. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 25 laps; 2. Cooper Webb (KTM) +0.326; 3. Malcolm Stewart (Yamaha) +10.463…14.Justin Barcia (GASGAS) +24.920
250SX East – Main Event
1. Jo Shimoda (Kawasaki) 19 laps; 2. Jett Lawrence (Honda) +01.150; 3. Colt Nichols (Yamaha) +03.050; 4. Michael Mosiman (GASGAS) +21.717
Championship Standings – After Round 16
450SX
1. Cooper Webb (KTM) 362pts; 2.Ken Roczen (Honda) 340; 3. Eli Tomac (Kawasaki) 312; 4.Justin Barcia (GASGAS) 273
250SX East
1. Colt Nichols (Yamaha) 187pts; 2. Jo Shimoda (Kawasaki) 164; 3. Christian Craig (Yamaha) 158; …5. Michael Mosiman (GASGAS) 116
Text/Bild: GasGas