Following a successful Lucas Oil Pro Motocross campaign, Justin Barcia has signed a two-year extension with JGRMX that will keep him with the team through 2018.

Although his first season riding the JGR Yamaha didn’t start off as well as he might have hoped, as Barcia got healthier, he and the team worked together to get the bike dialed in. Once things started clicking, he immediately became a weekly threat for wins. Barcia finished the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season with three moto wins, two overall victories and seven overall podium finishes.

Barcia was arguably the strongest rider in the 450 Class for a stretch in the middle of the season. Here’s a few of the streaks he had going: 8 consecutive top-two moto finishes, 7 consecutive holeshots, 5 consecutive top-two overall finishes, 2 consecutive overall victories. Thanks to that midseason surge, Barcia briefly vaulted past defending champion Ken Roczen into second place in points, although Roczen would reclaim the position at the final round.

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Barcia’s third-place finish in 450MX points matches his best finish since moving up to the premier class. He also finished third in 2013 behind Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey but did not win any races that year.

“I really like the guys on the team and the overall atmosphere here,” Barcia said in a team statement. “Now I don’t have to think about anything but riding and training for a long time. We all get along great and I’m pumped.”

“We feel like Justin is a great addition to our racing family, and even though he was under contract through 2016 we wanted to extend his agreement with us long-term,” said team owner Coy Gibbs.