Musquin Scores 1st Outdoor Win
US MX
www.vurbmoto.om Race Report High Point 2013
The question has been raised, "Can anyone other than Tomac or Roczen win an overall"? After today, the answer is a definitive yes.
Saturday morning
started off wet. Like a Muddy Creek deja vu, the track was topped with thick,
greasy mud on a foundation of pure hard clay. It wasn't easy - the small bore
bikes were limited on lines and had to avoid the horsepower robbing sludge on
the outside in morning practice and the consi's. Practice. A still-injured
Blake Baggett posted a class-best 2:14.794 to take the top qualifying position
and first gate pick for moto 1. The 4 lap consolation race saw qualifiers 37
and under for a last chance at making the main events. Kyle Bitterman, Sunny
Drake, Todd Kreig and Chad Gores took the top 4 positions and earned the final
4 gate pics for 250MX Moto 1.
Gate drop…holeshot to
Cole Seely. It was long-overdue but short lived. As we saw multiple times
throughout the day, the early lead always went to the one with the best drive
coming out of the corner, not always the first to the line. Zach Osborne
assumed the lead within the opening sections of the track. Ken Roczen rounded
the corner in approximately 5th and quickly got to work making his way to the
front. He worked his way around Bogle and onto the rear wheel of Musquin.
Around Musquin, he made quick work of Seely. Roczen was riding inspired - he
overtook the lead before crossing the finish line jump on the first lap. Seely
went down 4 laps in and was forced to fight his way back through the pack.
Battles between Durham and Anderson, Anderson and Osborne, Webb and Seely
highlighted the first moto's action. The top 10 finishing order as it shook out
was Roczen, Musquin, Tomac, Bogle, Baggett, Osborne, Durham, Seely, Webb and
Cunningham.
With the momentum of an overall win (2-2) last weekend at Muddy Creek, Musquin knew he needed a win in moto 2 to take the overall. He had a solid jump out of the gate and nailed a clean holeshot to take the early lead. Roczen sat back in 6th on lap 1, so he had some work to do if he was going to catch Musquin. First he picked off Savatgy in 4th, Jeremy Martin in 3rd then Osborne in 2nd. With 17 minutes on the clock he started to reel in Musquin. Marvin later admitted that he got nervous and made some mistakes, but kept thinking about some of Roczen's races last year when he got passed in the final corners. It was enough to keep him pushing ahead, planning out his passes on lappers and seeing the lead through all the way to the finish. With less than 2 seconds between them, Musquin secured his first win in an American Motocross series and was the first rider to win 2 overalls in 250MX this season. Musquin, Roczen and Tomac took the podium spots with Osborne, Baggett, Bogle, Martin, Webb, Savatgy and Jason Anderson rounding out the top 10 overall.