Barcia, Tomac land on podium for GEICO Honda in Unadilla

NEW
BERLIN, N.Y. (August 13) – GEICO Honda's Justin Barcia had a successful
debut aboard an American Honda CRF450R bike, finishing third overall on
Saturday at the Unadilla National in the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross
Championships.

"I
had a really fun day," Barcia said. "The bike was really awesome. I was
just hoping to run in the top 10 today, so going out and getting two
thirds is a little better than that."

In
the 250cc races, Eli Tomac got his third podium of the season,
finishing third overall with moto finishes of fifth and second.

During
the morning practices, Barcia was one of the fastest bikes off the
truck, so he said he knew a special day was in the works.

"The
bike was just extremely good right away," Barcia said. "It was really
fast and the suspension felt awesome. I'm so thankful for the
opportunity.

"There were a lot of hometown fans out there, I could hear them all the way around the track."

In
the second moto, Barcia dueled with Ryan Dungey for most of the race.
The pair made inadvertent contact late in the moto, which Barcia got the
worst of, as he tumbled off his bike as Dungey stayed up and went
around Barcia.

"That
really stunk," Barcia said. "I was taking a different line every lap
and there was a lapper in my line that time. I knew Dungey was close,
but not that close. I went over we hit and I went down.

"I got back up and kept pushing to the end."

Tomac had his best race in a while, powered by a second place finish in the second moto that was a result of a strong start.

"It
was so nice to get some fresh air at the start," said Tomac, who stays
fifth in 250 points. "I nearly got the holeshot, I haven’t done that
since Hangtown. My starts have hurt me a lot this year. My first start
today wasn't awesome, but it was good enough to work my way up to fifth
in the moto.

"We've made some improvements to the bike over the last couple of weeks that have really helped me."

Justin Bogle made his pro debut finishing sixth in both motos for an overall finish of fifth.

"It
went great," Bogle said. "I was running third in both motos, then I got
a little nervous and rode a little tight. I know what I need to do to
get ready for next week. It's been a big jump, but a lot of fun to race
under the GEICO banner."

Jimmy
Decotis, who came back from injury this weekend, finished 19th and 15th
in his motos, but his highlight of the day was getting the holeshot in
the second moto and leading a couple of laps.

"It
was good for me to get out front and see what I have to run for a
pace," he said. "I'm just trying to learn and get better every time I
race."

GEICO
Honda's final rider, Wil Hahn, went down hard in the first moto,
suffering a concussion and banging up his shoulder. As a safety
precaution, Hahn will be held out of the next race on the schedule, the
Southwick National on August 27.