Page 38 - GRIT-80

MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Besides some ashes at the rst two motos at Hangtown, the 2017 version of Marvin Musquin has yet to show up here in the 2018 outdoor nationals. The Frenchman whose speed has really taken off in the last year or so, has just seemed a tick off that speed in recent weeks. He nished second overall at Glen Helen, but it was a distant second place. He just did not have the same speed as Eli Tomac and nished nearly a minute behind him in the second moto. Then in Colorado, he just could not get anything going
all day. He always seemed to be on the tail end of the lead group and didn’t have his usual perfect starts. He would go 4-4 for fourth overall on the day which is great, but not in the eyes of Marvin. He knows he is capable of more and put in some serious training in the off week to get back to challenging for wins. Musquin looked rejuvenated in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He ended up qualifying with the third quickest time and was just two tenths of a second off Tomac’s best time. The European style course at High Point ts his style so big things were expected from Musquin when they lined up at the gate for moto number one. Musquin executed a quality start to kick things off. He started second right behind his rival, Tomac. Things were brewing up and it looked like it would be a one on one duel, but Justin Barcia came barging through to spoil that. He nearly landed on Musquin late on lap one but still ended up mak- ing the pass and pushed Musquin to third. It looked like not much had changed for Musquin as he seem- ingly settled into third. However, about ten minutes into the race things began to change. Musquin really found his groove and started clicking great lap times. He passed Barcia back and set his sights on Tomac who was only about three and a half seconds ahead. He had plenty of time to go to work and he would do just that. At the halfway point, he really started to get close and apply pressure. Musquin’s con dence seemed to soar, and he was clearly the fastest rider on the track at this point. With ten minutes left, he took an opening left by a sight Tomac bobble and he took over the lead. He continued the rest of the race strong and brought home his rst moto win of the year and effectively ended Tomac’s perfect season. Moto two began with Musquin starting in second yet again except this time he was right behind Ken Roc- zen. He attempted to pass Roczen early on lap one but a Roczen mistake held them both up and Tomac was able to glide by both of them going from third to rst. Musquin was in very similar territory from moto one. He settled into third and initially struggled to pass Roczen. After ve long laps, Musquin nally made the move and looked to chase after Tomac yet again. It was like déjà vu. Musquin slowly closed up onto Tomac’s rear wheel in the latter half of the moto. This time, Tomac was wiser and chose better lines so Musquin could not close as quickly. But with two laps to go and sensing time was running out, Musquin put on a crazy charge to try and go for the lead. Several times he pulled up alongside Tomac, but he just could not seal the deal. The battled raged until the checkered ag but Musquin would be unable to repeat his pass from moto one. He’d have to be happy with the 1-2 performance because he nally ended Tomac’s win streak and he showed that he has what it takes to take this championship to the very end.
38 GRITMOTO • JUNE 17, 2018