Supercross: Barcia makes history for GASGAS

Spain’s journey in motorcycle racing can be judged to have begun in 1922, with the formation of Derbi. But it was the arrival of Angel Nieto to world championship racing in the 1960s that triggered the Spanish influence we see today in two-wheeled motorsport.

Nieto made his grand prix debut in 1964, on a Derbi, in the 50cc category – one that he would go on to dominate – made his first podium at Montjuich in 1968 and won his first of 90 Grands Prix and first of ‘12 + 1’ world titles in 1969, all aboard a Derbi. 

Nieto is second only to Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini in terms of win totals, and his time in grand prix motorcycle racing catalysed Spain’s rise to prominence and indeed dominance on the asphalt. 

Jorge “Aspar” Martinez followed in Nieto’s footsteps, winning four small-bike world titles (three 80cc in 1986, 1987 and 1988; and one 125cc also in 1988), before Alex Criville became the nation’s first 500cc grand prix winner in 1992, and their first 500cc world champion in 1999.

The influence of the likes of Nieto, Criville and Martinez is still felt today in the MotoGP paddock, where Spain have won 10 of the last 11 premier class riders’ crowns, as well as seven in the 125cc/Moto3 championship, and five in the Moto2 championship across the same period.

GASGAS was born in Salt in 1985 and having found success in trials and enduro throughout the 1990s and 2000s, they were bought by KTM in 2019. This paved the way for GASGAS’ entry to the motocross world championship in 2020, where Glenn Coldenhoff would take the Spanish brand to its first MXGP victory in the Grand Prix of Latvia. It was an historic moment for both GASGAS and Spanish motorcycling, as it was the first grand prix victory of any kind for a Spanish motorcycle since Johann Zarco won the Japanese 125cc Grand Prix aboard a Derbi in 2011.

Coldenhoff moved away from GASGAS for 2021, as he switched to Yamaha. In the US, though, there was a swap the other way, as Justin Barcia moved from Yamaha to Troy Lee Designs GAGAS, the TLD team expanding to the 450 division.

After three up-and-down years with Yamaha – that yielded two supercross wins in spite of consistent problems with the bike that have been a common theme of Yamaha in the past few years, both on the first and asphalt – the move to GASGAS essentially meant that Barcia would be riding the bike that has won five of the last six championships; three times in KTM paint with Ryan Dungee; then once each with, firstly, Jason Anderson in the blue, white and yellow of Husqvarna and then back in the orange of KTM with Cooper Webb.

The pressure, then, was intensifying on Barcia ahead of the season opener in Houston, for what was the first season opener to be held outside of California since 1996, which was also the last time a rider won three successive season openers. That time it was Jeremy McGrath, but this time GASGAS’ Barcia had the opportunity to equal that. 

It was a perfect start to the night for Barcia in Houston, as he won his heat race ahead of Ken Roczen’s Honda. The two would then go on to dominate the Main Event a few hours later, and finished almost 20 seconds ahead of third-placed Marvin Musquin, who found the podium on his return to Supercross after missing 2020 through injury. 

Barcia came out on top once again over Roczen in the pair’s rematch in the Main Event, taking a victory that was momentous and historic not only for him but also for GASGAS. For Barcia, a ‘three-peat’ of season opening victories was complete, and therefore a matching of Jeremy McGrath. For GASGAS, Barcia had helped them achieve a piece of history for themselves and for Spain, as they took their first AMA Supercross win, becoming the first Spanish manufacturer to do so.

If Spain’s dominance of MotoGP in the last few years proves to be a valuable comparison, the future of dirtbike racing could have a distinctly Spanish tone. Already, the RFME proved its potential to form a dedicated team in the EMX125 championship in 2020, which used GASGAS machinery to help promote the talent of Guillem Farres, Gerard Congost and David Braceras, and support them in their journey to the world championship. 

Of course, that is a journey that has been made – with significant success – by Jorge Prado over the last few years. In 2021, the two-times MX2 World Champion will be aiming for his and Spain’s first MXGP world title, having taken three Grand Prix wins in his debut year, 2020. 

In Europe, then, the Spanish presence in motocross seems assured, but unlike its European neighbour, France, Spain is not currently a huge exporter of its talent to the US. In part, this is down to the greater history of supercross racing in France, compared to Spain where the history is in small-bike asphalt racing thanks to the likes of the aforementioned Nieto, “Aspar” and Criville. Prado, though, is young, and he will inspire a generation behind him to focus on dirt rather than asphalt. 

The Spanish are on their way, and Justin Barcia proved on Saturday night in Houston – as Glenn Coldenhoff in Latvia last August – that they have the machinery as well as the talent to reach the peaks on the dirt, just as they have on the asphalt.