Image: Octopi Media.

450MX mainstay Justin Barcia will sit out the opening rounds of Pro Motocross 2025 while continuing to recover from an existing knee injury that he re-aggravated in the later stages of Monster Energy Supercross.

While there is no set timeline in place, the 33-year-old New Yorker exited 450SX following the East Rutherford round last month and was expected to return in time for the outdoors.

Rockstar Energy GasGas Factory Racing has announced that those plans have been delayed despite him being back on the bike already, instead waiting until he is at 100 percent to get back behind the starting gates of a national.

“I was really excited about the start of Pro Motocross as I have been working extremely hard the last few weeks to be ready to go for round one,” Barcia explained. “I flew out to California right after my injury in New Jersey, and I’ve been doing therapy 24/7, working hard, and everything’s really coming along.

“But after practicing this week, I feel that I need a little bit more time to prepare for an outdoor gate drop. I’m looking forward to lining up soon and when I do the goal is to go out there and have a lot of fun and enjoy the summer with the crew! We’ll aim to start the season soon and have good race results and to just keep working hard at every round.”

While Barcia will be absent in the early weeks, Rockstar Energy GasGas is returning to action with both Ryder DiFrancesco and Casey Cochran declared fit to line up again in 250MX. This weekend will mark DiFrancesco’s first appearance since San Diego Supercross, while Cochran will finally debut in red.

“It’s no secret that our Supercross campaign didn’t go as we had hoped, with injuries affecting our riders at various points throughout the year, however, we’ve used that time to regroup and refocus,” added team manager Sean Murphy added.

“Justin Barcia made the smart decision to take time off after East Rutherford to strengthen his knee, and he’s been back practicing to prepare for the first round, but unfortunately Justin, along with the team, have decided to take a little bit more time to ensure he is 100 percent ready for the outdoors.

“On the 250 side, both Casey and Ryder have had the opportunity to fully reset after injuries earlier in the season. They’ve been putting in the work and it’s been showing in practice – they’re looking strong and hungry heading into the first round. We’re looking forward to a fresh start and can’t wait to see what this group can do when the gate drops for Pro Motocross.”