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MARVIN MUSQUIN
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Here we are, planted on the shores of the east coast, surrounded by swarms and mounds of sands. It’s been a monotonous pattern of working throughout the week, and now the riders and teams alike have come to this spot of Southwick, Massachusetts, ready to claim stake of elite royalty. Marvin Musquin throughout quali cation was truly riding within his particular groove, giving a substantial effort to carve a unique pattern through this soil composition. The track had been dozed, but quickly turned into a whooped-out frontier, and his speed was apparent to even the naked eye. Once the checkered ag had own, a st nod of clarity was in the eyes of all. He’d claimed a spectacular gate position, and went into the rst moto with loads of con dence. The rst moto was now here, and the gate would slam to the ground, this mirrored looking start straight surface was now gone. They would bottle into the rst turn, and he would come away with a third place residing spot for the opening go around. Pulling through rolloff’s with consecutive swipes,
his vision would have to be immaculate if he wanted to establish a lead on Tomac, who he knew would be coming up behind soon. He would ght, as the chassis would slash left and right, his throttle hand never letting go of the full on grip of the throttle. His calculated style found him making the move on Justin Barcia for the lead, on lap number six. He wanted to set sail, and looked to do so, just until the two lapboard came about. Tomac was closing in and would eventually make the move around the outside, just before the nish. Nearly coming together, it would cause Musquin
to have a spike of adrenaline; he would get a bit too excited to be honest, and absolutely y off the bike, launching off a single in the bottom valley. However, he would remount, taking second place. The second moto was here, and as the gate would fall, he would immediately cut left, darting for the most speci c point to the inside of the bend. Bogle would claim the holeshot, but Marvin would launch, taking the lead early on. Ripping through this newly found sand, as the track crew brought in a fresh batch for the competitors to race on, he was continuing to plow through the harshest
of potholes. He could be found doubling these moguls, letting the suspension snap through the toughest of strokes, and popping, as both fork and shock would rebound. Coming under the Red Bull uphill jump, he would duck in and over the nish line as the laps crept on, doing his best to establish a gap between he and Justin Barcia. He would do so, with Tomac seemingly gone out into the distance. He wouldn’t give up, and would be a recipient of Tomac’s huge mistake, noticing the Kawasaki down on the ground. He would remount, and Musquin would nearly take over the position, but would be forced to hang onto second; for the meantime that is. Second seemed to be sewed up, until Tomac again was on the ground. This time, Marvin knew he must take advantage, and would do so; inheriting the lead on lap nine. This would be all she wrote. After all was said and done, the champagne would be awaiting him at the podium. He’d done it, claiming the overall, and blasting the crowd with a sea of foam. Victory never tasted so sweet, especially at one of the toughest tracks on the schedule.
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GRITMOTO • JULY 1, 2018