Page 10 - Issue-48

MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / ROEWER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Marvin Musquin has been put in the spotlight as the new head guy for the Red Bull KTM factory racing team. After Dungey’s sudden retirement, and Canard’s bro- ken collarbone he the only rider left on the team to put the KTM up on that podium. Even with the pressure, the Frenchman is looking comfortable more comfortable than ever transitioning to outdoors. Qualifying third for the day Musquin had a great gate pick for the first moto of the season. Putting the power to the ground after the gate drop he was up in second behind Christian Craig through the first turn. Just
a few minutes in Musquin was hard at work to pass the Geico Honda rider. Craig makes a big mistake that allows Musquin to take over the lead. Leading the group the KTM rider was exactly where he wanted to be. But Tomac was lurking behind slowly catching up to him. Riding as wide as he could he wasn’t making it easy to get passed. Tomac charged hard around a corner and was able to steal the pass for the lead leaving Musquin back in second. Riding his race Musquin slowly fell away from Tomac, but continued to hold onto his position. As the moto neared its end the gap closed a little between him and the leader because Tomac made a mistake. Musquin crossed the finish line for moto one in second place. A strong start to the day, Mus- quin just needed to find a little more speed out there to run down Tomac. Starting the second moto with some wind in his sails the Factory Red Bull KTM rider put himself right into second behind Josh Grant around the first turn. Carrying his momentum from the first race he wasn’t letting the brutal track conditions affect his speed at all. With speedy Grant in front of him it took almost half the race for Musquin to catch
up and secure the pass for the lead. Running first for the second time of the day
he wasn’t going to let it slip away as easy this moto. With only a few minutes left in the race Tomac was laying the moves on Musquin each time unable to come out on top. Musquin was not afraid to leave his hands off those brakes that extra second to maintain his lead and it was paying off because Tomac could not hold onto a pass. After several failed attempts Tomac finally got by sending Musquin once again to second place. Going 2-2 for the day Marvin Musquin started the season off with a second overall a great start to the long season ahead.
10 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2017