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THIS IS IT... THE
. WORK WILL BE
REMEMBER..
MARVIN MUSQUIN |
WORTH IT
Marvin Musquin has been the number two rider at Red Bull KTM since making the jump to the 450 class in 2016. He spent two years following in the shadow of Ryan Dungey, scoring a mixed bag of results in his first two seasons as a 450 SX contender. The Frenchman is always one of the smoothest and most technical riders on the track, using precision and timing as his main weapons of choice. He employs many techniques that stem from BMX racing; down-siding jumps to perfection, pumping through rhythm sections, all while staying incredibly cognisant of his body position. Following the retirement of his teammate at the end of the 2017 SX season, Musquin came out of his shell and transported himself to the forefront of the title talks heading into 2018. The Frenchman seemed to find the comfort and consistent form that he once enjoyed in the 250 class, dominating one-off events such as the Monster Energy Cup, Red Bull Straight Rhythm, Supercross de Paris, and the Supercross Geneva. Musquin put together an impressive winning streak in preparation for Anaheim 1, undoubtedly putting his confidence
10 THE PULSE • FEBRUARY 2018
at an all-time high as things are seemingly falling right into place for the KTM rider. He has a top training program, one of the best motorcycles available, a small support system that remains constant, and he has matured as a rider since finishing third in the points last year. There seems to a buzz around the industry that this season will benefit from the absence of Dungey because no one is going to score podium after podium and run away with the championship, but Musquin is more than capable of finishing on the podium at every round with a couple of wins here and there. He has witnessed the process many times firsthand through the perspective of his former teammate, Dungey, and the Frenchman has all the right instruments in his toolbox in order to make the same strategy work. In terms of raw speed, history shows that Tomac and Roczen will have a slight edge ahead of Musquin, but some of his strongest attributes are his starts and consistency -- if he’s able to get out ahead of the competition on a consistent basis, the rest of the field is going to have trouble keeping him in their sights. Throughout his career, Musquin has always struggled a little bit when the battle is taken directly to him. Anyone who watched the battle for the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will remember the intense battles involving Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb in which the Yamaha duo seemed to have a bit of an edge, but Musquin has proven to put those woes behind him. He took the fight to Tomac at the Monster Energy Cup and forced the Kawasaki rider into a mistake, opening up the door for his trio of victories and the million dollar win. As a former 250 East SX Champion, the Frenchman has always excelled on the more rutted, challenging tracks -- the longer the series goes on, the better he will be.