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MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> It has been quite the up and down outdoor season for Factory Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin. He was shifted to lead man of the team after Ryan Dungey abruptly retired before the start of the series and that elevated his focus and responsibility. He knew he’d have the team on his back coming in and he delivered with a win and two second place finishes to start the season. He looked to be the main contender to Eli Tomac until he injured his meniscus prior to round four. He struggled mightily following the injury only finishing inside the top ten once in four rounds but last weekend at Millville he found his groove and dominated going 1-1. He finally seemed healthy again and was excited to keep it going at Washougal where he always performs well.
Musquin looked as fresh as ever in qualifying practice going out and throwing down
the second fastest lap time of the morning. He was finessing his way around the curvy, woodsy Washington course and appeared to be poised to have a great day.
When the gate dropped in moto one, we saw the #25 KTM of Musquin rip a stellar hole- shot. He immediately put his head down and tried to distance himself from the rest of the field because he knew his championship rival Eli Tomac would be lurking. Although Mus- quin entered the race sixty points behind Tomac, he knew every point counted and could come in handy barring a big mistake from Tomac. So Musquin clocked some quick early laps but as they neared the halfway point, Tomac came knocking. The battle peaked when Tomac tried running it in deep on Musquin nearly causing the two to go down but they both stayed upright. That seemed to trigger something in Musquin because he would go on to pull away from Tomac the rest of the race and take the moto win. A com- manding win that he would like to repeat for the overall in moto two.
Musquin nailed another great start in the second moto securing the green flag in fourth position. He did not waste much time dicing for the lead, hopping into second on lap two and then passing early leader Martin Davalos for the lead on lap four. Once he assumed command of the lead, he never looked back. He pulled away from the field in convinc- ing fashion and even did so once Tomac moved into second place. He would go 1-1 on the day for the second weekend in a row. Musquin sure seems to be peaking at the right time during the closing stretch of the season but the fifty-four point deficit he faces will be very difficult to overcome.
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GRITMOTO • JULY 31, 2017