Page 16 - Issue_64

MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 SX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Marvin Musquin was the hottest man in the sport of Supercross heading into the 2018 season. Heck, even when after it began. As we know, Musquin dominated the offseason races, including winning the Monster Million at the Monster Energy Cup. He was one of the favorites when the season began at A1 and he emerged as THE favorite for the title after taking home the win while fellow contender, Eli Tomac, crashed out. Then at round two everything went south, and he ended up injuring his shoulder. He did not race the main and that cost him big time. He returned a week later but struggled to a thirteenth. He looked better last weekend at Glendale with a solid fifth, so he entered Oakland trending upwards, regaining strength in that injured shoulder. After qualifying practice, it sure did not look like Musquin’s shoulder was injured any longer. It certainly didn’t prevent him from throwing down the second fastest lap time of the day. Glimpses of his old, dominant self were shining through, but the question still remained if he could maintain that type of a pace for a full main event. Musquin got out to a quick start in his heat race. He came out of the opening lap
in second place behind Cole Seely. Seely built a nice cushion almost immediately leaving Musquin and the rest of the field to try and chip away. Musquin tried for a couple laps and could not make much of a dent and that allowed Tomac to sneak in and take over second place on lap four. Musquin settled into third and continued to ride strong and pick up on what Tomac was doing so he could apply it for the main event. So, after finishing the heat in third, Musquin was eager to try his hand at the main event. Musquin got off to another nice start in the main. He secured the green flag in third behind Cole Seely and Ken Roczen. Those two riders got out quickly yet again leaving Musquin just far enough, so he could not show them a wheel. Musquin stayed steady on the brutal track while fending off pressure from behind he’d receive from Jason Anderson and Blake Baggett. He was doing well in regard to holding them off until Anderson decided to flip a switch and mount a charge. He came in hot and ended up taking Musquin out in the corner after the whoops. Musquin kept his composure,
at least on the outside, and remounted in fourth. Baggett and obviously Anderson got around him, but Cole Seely went down on the same lap which is why he only lost one spot. The remainder of the race Musquin did his best to try and run down Baggett, but he could never get close enough for a pass. So, fourth place is where he’d finish. Despite getting knocked down, the fourth-place finish and his overall performance was the best we’ve seen since his injury. Musquin is slowly getting back to full strength and he might even reach it as soon as next weekend in San Diego.
16 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 4, 2018