A Switch Atop the MX2 Standings?
Our sources in Europe have been buzzing about a possible brand switch for MX2 World Championship points leader Marvin Musquin, who has been running up front on the small NGS Honda team, supported in part by Honda France, to a factory KTM ride as soon as this weekend at Mallory Park in England. Musquin has told the press he will ride the Honda this weekend, but apparently there will be two #25 bikes with red plates: one a Honda CRF250R, the other a works KTM SX250. The Frenchman's current team manager is Bruno Losito, who is said to be at odds with his new coach Yannig Kervella, himself an experienced Grand Prix rider. You can check out more on www.mxlarge.com or www.motoverte.com (though the latter is in French!)
KTM is in the market, by the way, because top title contender Shaun Simpson crashed heavily shortly after winning the Dutch GP at Valkenswaard last month. He is not due back for a few more weeks, well after falling out of title contention. Musquin would be teamed with Rui Goncalves, whom he leads in the standings by 18 points (184 to 166) with Gautier Palin (181) and Davide Guarneri (179) standing in between them.
According to our source in Europe, Stefan Everts, the manager of the KTM team -- and a 10-time world champion in his own right -- has stated that there will be a KTM for Marvin at Mallory Park.
Someone raised the question, has a series points leader ever switched brands in the middle of a championship? Turns out the answer is yes, though one has to go all the way back to the 1972 AMA 500cc Motocross Championship. That was the year future champion Brad Lackey started out on a CZ, then switched towards the end of the series to a Kawasaki factory ride, on which he would take the title.
