Nothing is more satisfying than accomplishing your dreams, and Saturday night was one of many of those moments for Marvin Musquin. Photo by: Hoppenworld
Heading into the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, there were three highly-touted former 250SX Regional champions coming into the 450SX class as rookies, and on Saturday night, one of them finally broke through to score his first-ever 450SX podium. Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin has a resume that includes two MX2 World Championships and the 2015 Eastern Regional 250SX Championship, but a preseason wrist surgery delayed his preparation for his rookie 450SX campaign in ’16. The #25 started Aldon Baker’s pre-season bootcamp over a month behind, but still, it took him just four races to find the podium in the premier class.
In Oakland, the softer technical soil seemed to suit Marvin’s fluid style well. The Factory KTM rider’s day started with his best qualifying position of the year, and that was just the beginning of a day of best-evers for the Frenchman. In his heat race, he got off to a good start, cautiously made his way around Vince Friese and finished second to his teammate and training partner Ryan Dungey.
In the main event, Marvin got out of the gate around third, and after passing Yoshimura/Suzuki’s James Stewart for second, his night quickly began to resemble his training days at home with Dungey right in front of him. Marvin hung on to the #1’s pace as long as he could, but he was eventually pushed back to third by his former MX2 World Championship rival RCH/Soaring Eagle/Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. Once in third, though, nobody else would challenge Musquin for that final podium spot.
After Marvin’s third place finish in Oakland, we caught up with him to talk about the family environment at Red Bull/KTM, his night in Oakland and his season as a whole.
[Before we started the interview, the Red Bull/KTM team was having their traditional post-race huddle and congratulating Marvin and his mechanic, Frankie Latham, on their podium]. First of all, it’s got to be great riding for a team that, by all appearances, is more like a family.
Oh, for sure. We’ve had so many good times. Obviously when you win, everyone is happy, but still, when you’re not winning and the team sees you’re putting in the work, trying hard and there’s improvement, they’re happy too. They believe in me, and they’re like my family. I love every single person on the team, and they do a great job for everyone. To be a teammate of Ryan Dungey or to look back at my dreams as a kid and to be here right now and training with Ryan is amazing; I learn a lot. Then, to be on the podium with Ryan, that makes me really happy for the team.
From the moment I saw the track today, I thought this could be a career-best day for you. It was a technical circuit, soft and rutted up well; it’s a track that definitely plays to your strengths. You qualified your personal 450SX best in 7th, had your best-ever 450SX heat race and had your first-ever 450SX main event podium. Talk about your day a little.
Yeah, today was good. We only had two practices, and my goal was to get into a good feeling with the track right away. I’ve been struggling to just be myself in the first laps of practice, but it was better. In the second practice, I really wanted to get on the board [trackside top five leaderboard]. I was up there today. I was third, then fifth—it was a fifteen minute practice, instead of ten minutes— and at the end they got me and I was seventh. It was the best so far this season, so it was good. I was in the same heat race as Ryan, and the goal was to be up there battling with him. I actually got second far away from him because I was battling with [Vince] Friese. Second was good, the racing was good, the riding was not so good, but the start was good.
You talked about battling with Friese. We all know his reputation, but do you find yourself a lot more apprehensive when passing Friese as opposed to other riders his speed?
Yes, I am. Vince is known as a rider that’s very tough to pass. He’s not scared to cut in front of you or move over off some of the jumps, so you have to be careful. I’m not talking bad about him; that’s just the way he is. I mean, he’s fighting for his spot, so you can’t really get mad at him.
In the main event, you were right there in second behind Ryan. With you and Ryan 1-2, did it feel a lot like training at home with him?
Yeah, I actually started in third I think, and then I got inside of [James] Stewart. I really wanted to get into second place right away to follow Ryan. I was like, “Here we are.” (laughs) That was a good feeling. I was just happy to be right behind Ryan, and I was even thinking about the team when I was riding. Roczen put a lot of pressure on me—obviously he was faster—and he passed me. I tried to hold onto third place, and they weren’t catching me from behind, so it was great. I made some mistakes and tightened up a little, but I tried to be consistent. I was actually by myself, so it was actually like training. It was a long main event for me, and I was waiting for that white flag. (laughs) To get third, I’m pumped for the team and everyone that works for me.
Early in the race, Cole Seely and Chad Reed were not far behind you, and most everyone thought they were going to catch you. Instead, though, you actually pulled away and maintained that big gap throughout. Did that surprise even you?
I did a little bit. When I look at lap times from Anaheim 2, I had the same speed or even better sometimes than those guys. I was like, “Yeah, I can do that.” Obviously, every single week, the tracks are different, so there are some tracks I’ll be better or worse or struggling or feel great. Today was good, and yeah, I was looking back. When you do a 180 [degree] turn, you can see who’s coming. A couple of laps, I was hitting my lines, very consistent, and they were not catching me. I was like, “Okay, keep doing what you’re doing and be consistent.” The only one that was behind and faster was Jason Anderson, who passed those guys for fourth.
We’re now four rounds in and your scorecard reads 14-9-9-3; you’re seventh in the 450SX Championship. How would you rate your season so far when comparing to your expectations coming in?
It was very tough at the beginning, but we have been trying to do the right thing. My wrist is better now, and I don’t think about it any more when I ride. My conditioning is getting better, my confidence on the bike is getting better, the bike is getting better for my style more right now—we are still working on it—and racing is racing. You know, you go to the test track and you’re feeling well, but racing is a different thing. There are so many riders on the track. It gets rough and then you have the start; you have to put everything together to get on the podium. Tonight, I did it.
In the premier class of American SX, too. Congrats again, Marvin, and we’ll see you next week in Phoenix.
Thank you.
