Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team’s Marvin Musquin captured his first-career 450SX victory at Round 6 of the 2017 AMA Supercross Championship in Arlington, Texas.
Musquin’s teammate, Ryan Dungey, finished 4th to maintain his championship points lead in the class.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Trey Canard made his return after missing the last four rounds due to injury. Canard lined up in 450SX Heat 2, where he got off to a mid-pack start. Canard climbed his way into a 4th place transfer position but ultimately got passed back to finish in 5th.
Canard put forth a solid performance in the semi-final race, where he transferred into the Main Event with ease after capturing 2nd place behind Eli Tomac.
Canard had a strong start to the Main Event as he maintained a top-seven position through the first five laps of the race. Unfortunately, Canard experienced two crashes that ultimately dropped him outside of the top 10 running.
In his first event back from injury, Canard was able to salvage 11th place for the day. “It was really nice to be back on the bike,” Said Canard. “I actually hadn’t gotten any races under my belt until tonight so it was good to put some time out there. I felt good on the bike all day, although I’m not quite where I want to be fitness/speed wise. But I feel like the next few races we can get things to where we want them and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
The 450SX Main Event was red flagged shortly after the gate drop after Justin Brayton crashed heavily in the firt turn. Upon the restart, Musquin shot out of the gate aboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to capture the early lead, while Canard settled into a top-five position. Meanwhile, Dungey didn’t get off to the best start as he rounded the opening lap in 13th place.
Musquin maintained his focus out front as he rode a near perfect Main Event, leading all 20 laps en route to his first career 450SX victory.
Musquin: “I was super calm, trying to stay relaxed and not put any pressure on myself. I had a great start and worked on pacing myself and I was just doing my laps out there and it happened. The biggest thing was that I didn’t make any big mistakes and I stayed on my bike. Today I was more relaxed and I’m really happy.”
Following a mid-pack start, Dungey quickly worked his way through the pack and into the 5th place position just before the halfway point. From there, the reigning champion continued to push ahead where he fell just short of a podium position with a 4th place finish.
Dungey: “Overall it was a good night. Obviously our positioning wasn’t the best off the restart but I gave it my all to fight my way back up there. We caught a couple breaks to move into 4th and all-in-all we made up some ground in the big picture.”
Chad Reed made it through to the Main Event after winning Semi Final 1 but would struggle to make up positions after a mid-pack start and would finish 19th.
Next Round: February 18, 2017 – Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Results 450SX Class Arlington 2017
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM, 21:24.324 min (26 laps)
2. Cole Seely (USA), Honda, +5.332 sec
3. Jason Anderson (USA), Husqvarna, +9.449
4. Ryan Dungey (USA), KTM, +16.327
5. Dean Wilson (USA), Husqvarna, +23.512
Standings 450SX Class 2017 after 6 of 18 rounds
1. Dungey, 129 points
2. Musquin, 111
3. Seely, 107
4. Eli Tomac (USA), Kawasaki, 100
5. Anderson, 85