Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia ‘was definitely happier with the second moto’ at Ironman when considering where he was at a couple of weeks ago in his return to competition.

Initially injured at round 15 of Monster Energy Supercross at Nashville, complications saw Barcia’s return delayed to Unadilla and the final stint of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship.

Incidents throughout the day saw the number 51 finish 19th overall at round nine of 450MX, and a 5-4 scorecard landed fifth overall the following Saturday at Budds Creek – the penultimate stop of this year’s outdoors.

In his third race back since returning to action, Barcia qualified P9 at the Ironman circuit. Unfortunately, a crash early in moto one dropped him deep into the 40-rider pack. He salvaged what he could for the moto by charging his way back to 11th at the finish.

In moto two, a much better start had him running in the top four, and he dropped one spot to finish fifth at the checkers.

“I had a tough first moto – I got into a little pile-up and came back to 11th,” he reflected. “It definitely wasn’t happy with that. In the second moto, I had a decent start and rode really hard. I found some decent lines, had a good flow going, and ended up fifth.

“I was definitely happier with the second moto considering where I was at a couple weeks ago to now. Not bad, but I definitely have a lot of work to do. I’m looking forward to SuperMotocross and getting back to my winning self.”

Barcia’s next outing will come at zMax Dragway on 9 September, marking the first of the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoffs. He enters the event with the 10th 450SMX seed.