Racer X: That was amazing. That was unbelievable.
Marvin Musquin: Thank you so much. I felt great, for sure. My start wasn’t so good. I tried to go inside and somebody caught the tuff blocks, actually two big tuff blocks. We were stuck behind the tuff block with Wil Hahn. And we were laughing about it on the podium because we [both] ended up on the podium, so that’s why we were laughing about it. But at the moment we were like, ‘what’s going on here?’ Wil said to me, “Well, we’ll just have to wait.” It probably didn’t take so long, but it feels like it takes forever to get around those tuff blocks when it’s happening live in the race! I passed Wil really quick because I really want to get points on him for the championship. I really fought all the way through. I got [to] third. I was like, okay, it’s pretty good. Ended up on the podium; it’s good. And then [Kyle] Peters was right in front of me and I was faster than him. So I was like, okay, I tried to get second. And then I got second. I was like, that’s pretty good! And then I saw [Blake] Wharton in front of me. I was like, there were like three lapped riders. I’m like, ‘Okay, anything can happen.’ And those whoops were really, really rough and sketchy and I guess he went down. It’s really sad for him. He had the win, for sure. To crash in the last lap it’s really bad. But Frankie, my mechanic, he really believes in me and was helping me on the pit board. He was giving me good encouragement, telling me where I was, how many laps, what position. It was a great race. I felt really, really good. That track was rough, but I love this.
Musquin had to come through a ton of traffic after a first turn pileup.
Simon Cudby photo
You mentioned that on your podium speech. It was pretty technical from your perspective, and you like it that way?
Yeah, sure. Not everybody was doing that double and then triple so it’s good when it’s like this. When it’s tough to do a rhythm and then nobody does the same thing, it’s good. You can make time on riders. And also when it’s rough, ruts, it almost gets to where you can’t jump anymore, but you try to still do it. I really like it. That’s real motocross, when it’s rough and you can do some different things on the track. Like last year, we’ve been talking about it - that’s why I’m here in the East Coast. And we’ve talking about it with the team because it’s rougher on the East Coast and it pays off. It’s good for my style.
It seems like you’re riding better here these last couple weeks, obviously, with two wins. Is there something that you feel changed from the first couple weeks?
I felt that the difference, it’s only during the race. I am doing the same things between the races. I’ve been really consistent and fast during practice but on the race I was kind of tired and not confident enough to win. In Daytona I felt much better and just tried to do the same thing now. Having that win is a big boost of confidence. Be consistent in practice, be consistent on my starts and try to get points on Wil Hahn and we see at the end of the championship.
Yeah, you’re only nine points down. You’re totally in it.
Yeah, for sure. Fourteen points coming in, that was a big gap. You’re like, “Man, I got to win now some races and get some points.” And that’s what I’m doing so I’m really happy.
Musquin celebrates in style.
Simon Cudby photo
