Marvin Musquin #25 was stalked by Ryan Dungey #1 for nineteen laps. Words by: Dan Lamb – Photo by: Simin Cudby
Coming into the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, there were three former Eastern Regional 250SX Champions making their debuts in the 450SX class, all three on factory bikes with Christophe Pourcel on the Rockstar/Husqvarna, Justin Bogle on the GEICO/Honda and Marvin Musquin on the Red Bull/KTM. Over the first eight rounds, Musquin has been the only rookie to find the podium, and while he has no doubt separated himself as the top of the rookie class, he has gone a step further over the last two weeks and has inserted his name as a rider who can now fight for main event wins.
A round ago in Arlington, Musquin showed he had the speed when he qualified second behind his teammate, Ryan Dungey, but he had to use that speed to fight from dead last to sixth in the main event. He brought that same speed and tenacity into Atlanta on Saturday night, but this time he got the start and led for nineteen and a half laps with Dungey breathing down his neck.
After getting the white flag with the lead, the #25 and #1 came up on James Stewart going a lap down. James got the blue flag and looked to hold his line, but he slowed Marvin just enough heading into a rhythm section to throw off his normal flow. Marvin cased a triple into the rhythm section he had done perfectly for nineteen laps and that was all she wrote. Marvin went off the track and on to score his best-ever 450SX finish in second, while Dungey went on to score his fifth win of 2016.
After Marvin’s bittersweet, best-ever night, Chase Yocom caught up with him in the pits and recorded a interview with the Frenchman.
How are you feeling? Are you okay?
Ah—let me think right now (laughs). I’m feeling bummed, but when I think about the whole race, I’m happy, kind of like 50-50 feeling. It was a great main event. The start was good. I was pushing hard and I was feeling great. I was doing some good laps, and then obviously I knew it was Ryan [Dungey] behind. I had some good lines. Like Frankie [Latham, Marvin’s mechanic] used to tell me, he says, “Just try your best, and if you get tired, you get tired.” You know what I mean? I tried really hard. I was actually thinking, “Just try, and we’ll see when Ryan is going to pass you, because you know it’s Ryan Dungey behind you.” I know Ryan really well. He’s a really clean rider. I knew he was not going to take me out or hit me to pass me. We have a lot of respect for each other. But still, I was like, “When is he going to come on the inside?” Obviously I can’t see behind, but I was actually doing good in some of the sections, especially the whoops. I didn’t know until right now when the team told me in the whoops I was doing good.
So last lap, I got close to James Stewart. He was a lap down. On the straightaway by the mechanics’ area, he actually looked back, so he saw me. I revved my bike to tell him, “I’m here, please let me by. Let me do my last lap clean.” I was behind him in the whoops. Obviously he was in the main line, and he turned really tight inside to let me by, and I was missing a little bit of speed going to the triple and I still went for it. I cased the triple, so I slowed down a lot, and then I heard him coming because he was still riding and doing his race behind me. I kind of got scared to get landed on by him. I changed lines and I got so out of control because I got scared. I was scared of getting landed on by him. Feet off the pegs, hit my chest going through the dragon back with no feet on the pegs. I was like, “There we go, I’m down. I’m crashing.” I saved it, went off the track, and I knew Chad [Reed] was behind but not that close, so let’s get safe back on the track and get second. But you know what, tonight for me second is not good, because I feel like I had it, but when I look back, second is my best result. To be leading 19 laps in front of Ryan, it was great.
So Frankie says go as hard as you can and get tired. Were you tired or were you good for that last lap?
Well, I try hard, and then if you get tired, it’s okay.
Were you feeling good?
Yeah, my heart rate was high! I was pushing! Right now, obviously every single rider, the goal is to win and be the best, but to be honest and to be realistic, at one point you’re like, “Ryan Dungey is going to pass you.” But I was like, “Hey, I try my best.” Frankie showed me six laps to go and I was like, “Hey, that’s not a lot.” It was obviously short lap times and it was a shorter 20 laps compared to the weeks before. From then, I tried to be consistent and not do mistakes and pushing hard. I’m really happy about myself, until I got close to James Stewart. I kind of want to get mad at him—not get mad at him because he is doing his own race—but it’s difficult to accept right now. At the end, we’ve got to move on, always.
You said Stewart was sticking to the inside after the whoops. You think he was actually trying to get out of your way? Or was he just taking his line?
The thing is people said he looked back on the straightaway. I just feel like he kept going at his rhythm and at the same time we would have passed him, but I don’t know, I’m not in his head. I don’t want to talk too much about it. I don’t want to use this as an excuse. I don’t want to blame him too much. He’s a great rider, and he’s having a difficult time right now obviously with injuries and stuff. At the end, I should have been more safer and maybe smarter and just went double instead tripling, but that was the fastest way, so I went for it. I gave 100 percent, so that’s why I have no regrets.
The track was cool because you and Ryan had a lot of different lines and they were working out about the same. Like you didn’t even do the second triple and jump onto the dragon’s back, but it was working for you.
But I think I should have went three-three. I did it once and then I just changed it and stuck with it. It was kind of safer for me, but obviously when you have Ryan behind you like this, I was trying to be loose and smooth, but in some areas of the track I was a little bit tight. But when I think about the race right now, I’m pumped. It was great.
Have you had those battles with him on Tuesdays and Wednesdays [in practice]?
Yeah, we’ve been battling like that at the practice track—with Ryan, with Jason [Anderson], yeah.
I know you talked about this week being a shorter track, and next week we have a longer track in Daytona. Are you looking forward to that? Are you guys going to get on a outdoor track at all? What’s the game plan heading into Daytona?
Yeah, we have the chance to have Aldon Baker as our trainer, and he has a great facility. They’re going to make kind of like a Daytona track or Daytona section mixed with a Supercross track. We have black sand over there and Dream Trax—Jason and Matt—always do a great job. I’m looking forward to getting back to Florida and see how it is. It’s going to be rough and a great week of practice, but Daytona has been great to me. I’ve won the last two times I’ve been there on 250’s, so to get on the podium at Daytona would be great.
Talking about that save you had to make. I know you’ve been battling a wrist injury. Did that jar the wrist at all? I’m still not sure how you saved that.
No, I would have been okay to case that triple, but to think about Stewart coming off that triple scared me and I just changed lines. That messed me up really bad, but, yeah, I saved it, but I don’t know how. My feet were off the pegs and I went off the dragon’s back. I was like sitting down, hit my chest on the handlebars, went off the track, and I thought I was going to go down. Luckily I didn’t, and I’m happy I still got second.
Thanks again for your time, and good luck at Daytona.
Thank you.
