Moto Air Bags

27.6 Gs! Justin Barcia and Alpinestars Release Airbag Data After Anaheim 1 Crash

by SlawJanuary 17, 2026, 10:20 am

When Alpinestars released its Tech-Air MX airbag to the public last year, it was truly a game changer in the world of off-road racing. It looks almost identical to a traditional motocross chest and back protector, and is just as light. Long used in the road racing world, using the company’s proprietary algorithm, the Tech-Air MX can detect when a motocrosser falls or suffers an impact and deploy the airbag to ensure protection across their chest and neck.

A number of riders used the system during Monster Energy AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross last year and reported good things about the system: light-weight, didn’t feel it much, etc.

Following his scary crash at the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in Anaheim 1 last Saturday when he landed on Malcolm Stewart on the opening lap of the 450 main event, Justin Barcia and Alpinestars have confirmed that Barcia was wearing the airbag.

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Barcia wrote on his social media on Friday: “Yes, I was wearing the @alpinestars airbag and yes it absolutely did its job. Pretty cool to see the data behind it…27.6G´s (slide 2). Not something you ever want to put to the test but damn I’m just so grateful I was wearing it! Thanks @alpinestars ”

Further, the company released data from the impact of the crash and it is truly astounding.

Per the company, the crash lasted 2.7 seconds and Barcia suffered an impact of 27.6 g, which is comparable to a high-speed car crash.

Although Barcia is out for the immediate future, he was able to walk out of the hospital under his own power the next morning, and in a social post this week said he “broke a little wing” in his back and is dealing with extreme soreness, but is otherwise relatively ok.