Page 22 - ISSUE _38

MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 SX / 5TH
IMAGE /MPG WORDS /HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Marvin Musquin entered Atlanta riding a huge wave of momentum after his first career 450 win two weeks ago and a second-place finish last week in Minnesota. He has arguably been the best rider under the Factory Red Bull KTM banner the past few weeks as Dungey has been just a tad off as of late. The Frenchman kept his momentum rolling in the qualifying sessions by securing the third best lap time. He looked ready to pick up right where he left off a week ago.
Musquin got a solid start in his heat race emerging from the opening lap in fifth position. He made quick work of Vince Friese on the second lap to hop up to fourth, the final transfer position. Dean Wilson started closing in with a few laps to go so Musquin responded by working around Bogle on the final lap for third so he did
not have to worry about giving up the final transfer spot. He was headed straight through to the main event ready to go for another win.
The gate dropped for the main but Musquin suffered an uncharacteristic bad start. And to make matters worse he got bumped around in the sand section on the opening lap but he managed to emerge relatively unscathed. He managed to stay upright but he got the green flag way back in thirteenth place. He made a quick charge in the first several laps popping up to eighth by lap six. It took him a few more laps to pass Alessi for seventh before he went after Bogle for sixth. He caught up to the Suzuki rider on lap ten and made an overly aggressive pass on him knocking Bogle to the ground. Musquin squirted away unharmed and set his sights on Cole Seely. He kept logging solid laps navigating through the thick lapped traf- fic and treacherous whoops until he was on the rear wheel of the Honda rider. He made the move on lap seventeen and attempted to mount a charge for Anderson but ran out of time. He would settle with fifth place. It was a nice ride by Musquin but he knows he belongs on the podium so look for him to come out swinging next week in Toronto.
22 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 26, 2017