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MARVIN MUSQUIN
IMAGE/JACKEDWARDS
Marvin Musquin narrowly missed out on the 250 outdoor title last year in a hard fought, season long battle with Star Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin. The championship chase came down to the last round in Indiana at Ironman MX, but a mechanical failure on Musquin’s Red Bull KTM forced him out of the first
moto in dramatic fashion. It was a cruel twist of fate for the French rider; he was coming off a 250 East SX championship and went on to win the Motocross des Nations later in the year on home soil. If he had been able to clinch the 250 national title, it would have been a perfect season for Musquin, completing a trifecta of championships that would put him in the history books with some of the all-time goliaths of the sport. He started 2016 with a nagging wrist injury that hindered his performances at the beginning of the supercross season, but he was able to put together an impressive string of podiums in the middle of the season that turned a lot of heads in the industry. He barely missed out on a win in Atlanta after a bit of last lap controversy with James Stewart, forcing him to concede victory to his Red Bull KTM teammate, Ryan Dungey. Shortly thereafter, Musquin re-aggravated his wrist injury in practice at Santa Clara which would put a damper on the rest of his supercross season. He had a bit of an up and down opening weekend at Hangtown, he was running 4th in the first moto after methodically moving his way up through the pack, but a mystery problem forced him to drop back down the order. The Red Bull KTM team couldn’t find any issues with the bike after he pulled back into the pits at the end of the race, and Roger DeCoster claimed that Musquin needed to ‘man up’ and get the job done. He ended up finishing 8th overall with a couple of 9 - 7 finishes, but he’s definitely capable of breaking into the top 5. Musquin went 1 - 1 at Glen Helen in the 250 class last year, look for him to bounce back this weekend on a track that allows his technical prowess on a dirtbike to shine.
26 GRITMOTO • MAY.30.16
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