After spending three months in recovery from a laundry list of injuries, Justin Barcia will be mounting his No. 51 GASGAS entry for the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross race at Unadilla MX.
He sustained his injuries at the end of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, when he broke his collarbone, two ribs and right shoulder at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on April 29.
Since then, the 31-year-old has taken considerable time off to heal.
“It’s been a process, for sure, a lot to think about. We’re past the injury now after two surgeries, lots of training and a lot of recovery,” Barcia noted. “There are no expectations set because I’ve been off for a lot of months, so I just want to go out there and have fun and build.”
The New Jersey native will make his return at his home race, as Unadilla MX is located nearby in New Berlin, N.Y.
Barcia is currently 10th in the SuperMotocross World Championship standings — safely in position for a spot in the end-of-year playoffs.
“It’s been longer than we all expected for (Barcia) to be returning to the races, but we are as excited as ever to have him alongside Pierce Brown this weekend,” commented Max Lee, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing team manager.
Barcia’s return will also signal the exit of Caden Braswell from the team, who has been filling in for Pierce Brown in the 250cc class. During the opening six rounds of the Pro Motocross season, Braswell was the only GASGAS rider on the roster. He competed at eight total rounds with GASGAS.