SUPERCROSS
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D1 to need them. It’s going to be an exciting season.”
“Definitely, the risk-reward factor is huge this year,” said Barcia. “I want to win when the opportunity presents itself. You can easily throw your hopes away with a bad decision. I have a good game plan.”
Honda’s Ken Roczen won the season opener at Anaheim with Webb second on a KTM and Barcia third on a GasGas bike representing the Spanish firm that joined the competition last season. Former Pacific Beach resident Jason Anderson won the second leg in Oakland on a Kawasaki with Aaron Plessinger second on a KTM and Barcia
third.
The Oakland race marked only the second time in the last 53 Supercrosses that the podium was without Webb, Roczen, or Eli Tomac, who had combined to win 44 of those 53 main events.
Barcia comes to Petco Park with a three-point lead over two-time series champion Webb and Anderson.
Saturday will be the first
San Diego Supercross since 2020. The West Coast portion of the tour was cancelled in 2021 due to COVID-19.
“It’s awesome to be back in San Diego and racing before fans,” said the 26-year-old Webb, who lives in Murrieta.
“Honestly, I love San Diego. I visit the Gaslamp District a lot when we’re not racing. I’ve always loved the atmosphere of the Petco Park race because
of the surroundings. I feed off that.”
Webb scored eight of his 19 career 450cc main event wins last season when the series was run mostly on a limited number of sites without fans.
“All of us are glad we’re getting back to normal,” said Webb.
But it’s a new normal. “We’re seeing a lot of changes in the sport,” said Barcia. “The motorcycles are better to ride than ever. Partially because of that, careers are lasting longer. We’re seeing champions riding into their 30s. And with that experience comes modified styles.
“Riders right now are overall smarter about their approaches to races than even five, six years ago. And I think everyone has gotten a boost this year from having the 2021 season behind us. For me, last year was just getting through to the finish, but it was tough.”
Meanwhile, El Cajon native Christian Craig has won each of the season’s first two races in the 250cc support class. The 31-year-old rides for Yamaha.