Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Dean Ferris and Justin Barcia overcame the elements of high altitude and varying conditions to finish inside the top 10 at Round 3 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross at Thunder Valley MX Park in Lakewood, Colorado. Ferris earned his best overall of the season in eighth with a 6-9 score, while Barcia collected his third-straight top 10 in ninth with an 11-6 tally.

The season has been one of learning and adjusting for Ferris, but he has also been eager to put his talent to the test. In the opening moto, he nearly grabbed the holeshot and was in the mix for over half of the race running in fourth. Near the end he fell back to sixth, but that still gave Ferris his best moto finish of the season. In Moto 2, it was more of an uphill battle as he pushed inside the top 10. Ferris would eventually make it up to ninth, giving him a 6-9 score for eighth overall.

Barcia continued to gain strength from his wrist injuries and was hopeful his strong fitness would come into play at the tiring altitude. He was running strong with his teammate in Moto 1, but unfortunately he was feeling poorly and finished 11th. Ready to charge back in Moto 2, he positioned himself in the top 10 where he would fight his way through slower traffic to finish sixth for ninth overall.

The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing team will get a weekend break before heading to Round 4 on Saturday, June 15 at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania.

Jim Perry

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

“Today the team made progress with two top-10 finishes. We will continue to work hard on the weekend off to close the gap towards the front. Justin was a little under the weather all day. In the first moto, he struggled with a stomachache and regrouped to put in a solid second moto. Dean continues to work with the team on getting comfortable and it showed in Denver with his best result of the season. Both guys will return to California this week for testing and look forward to Mount Morris to go after top results.”

Justin Barcia

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing

“It was a tough day for me. I went back to Florida this week and came down with some kind of sickness. I don’t really know what it was but I had really bad migraines all week and struggled with that. I didn’t get a lot of sleep. It was difficult. I wasn’t feeling good the first moto at all and unfortunately it showed. That was really frustrating. In the second moto I felt a little bit better, kind of regrouped, got a little energy and put it all out there.

“All in all, I was happy with my bike settings and stuff like that. It seems like I’ve been making some progress, but it really hasn’t shown at the moment. I just need to use this off-week coming up to do a little testing, get healthy and go to the East Coast. That’s when I plan on really moving forward and turning it on.”

Dean Ferris

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing

“Big improvements for me today. I got two reasonably good starts and kind of got pulled along with the big group. We made improvements with the bike. I’m somewhat comfortable now and feel like we’re getting the train on the tracks now for the rest of the season. The conditions were demanding, the track was really rutted and rough as usual, but I liked it. I’m definitely really happy about the improvements we made and the result this weekend. It’s something to build on.”

2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 450 Class Thunder Valley MX Park Results

1.Ken Roczen (1-2)

2. Eli Tomac (5-1)

3. Zach Osborne (2-4)

4. Jason Anderson (4-5)

5. Marvin Musquin (8-3)

6. Cooper Webb (3-8)

7. Blake Baggett (7-7)

8. Dean Ferris (6-9)

9. Justin Barcia (11-6)

10. Justin Bogle (10-10)

2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 450 Class Standings

1. Ken Roczen 136

2. Eli Tomac 134

3. Zach Osborne 110

4. Marvin Musquin 107

5. Jason Anderson 106

6. Cooper Webb 98

7. Justin Barcia 77

8. Dean Ferris 69

9. Justin Bogle 63

10. Blake Baggett 61

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.