Page 27 - MPG19

theGRIT
IMAGE/JACKEDWARDS
Marvin Musquin took the 7th fastest time in qualifying practice to start his day at Glen Helen. He was able to use the power of his Red Bull KTM down the fifth gear start straight in order to put himself in a decent starting position; he settled into 5th place on the opening lap of the race
behind RCH Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. The young German rider was able to force his way around Barcia for 3rd place and Musquin quickly followed suit, taking the inside line after the finish line jump by out-braking Barcia and stealing his line away. Not long after Musquin moved into 4th position, Canard crashed in the Talladega corner, which promoted the Frenchman to the final podium spot. He was uncharacteristically hanging it out in an attempt to hold onto the podium spot, swapping side to side and losing traction up Mt. Saint Helen on multiple laps. Seely began to reel him in on the approach to the finish line and the pressure from the HRC rider forced Musquin into a costly mistake in the last rhythm lane. Consequently, he lost two positions to Seely and Tomac and found himself in 5th place with the Rockstar Husqvarna rider of Jason Anderson breathing down his neck. ‘El Hombre’ pounced on the opportunity and used the outside line at the bottom of Mt. Saint Helen to gain the drive on Musquin up the hill, therefore sticking his Husqvarna up the inside of Musquin’s KTM in the corner at the top of the hill. Going from 3rd to 6th in the space of half a lap really threw Musquin out of his rhythm and he never seemed to regain his composure for the remainder of the race. He was getting reeled in by southern California’s own, Weston Peick, toward the end of the moto, but Peick crashed out of the race with a couple of laps to go. Another local rider by the name of Josh Grant managed to relegate Musquin to 7th place as the race clock wound down.
>>
WWW.GRITMOTO.COM
27