If the Anaheim II round of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series was unpredictable, then round six at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was a bolt out of the blue, or rather orange, as Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin scored his first career AMA 450cc Supercross main event win in front of 57,807 fans.
Musquin, who became the fifth French-born rider to win at the premier level in AMA Supercross, dominated the 450cc main in a fashion usually attributed to his teammate, reigning series champion Ryan Dungey. Musquin pulled the holeshot after the race was restarted due to a crash involving Justin Brayton, and he simply checked out on the field, winning by 5.3 seconds.
“This [victory] feels so good, to stand up here [on top of the podium] for the first time in my career,” Musquin said. “I’ve dreamed of this since I was a little boy in France and would like to dedicate this to my brother, who has been so supportive of me and gone through difficult times the past few years.”
Musquin put his factory KTM out front for the first time in by just beating RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Justin Bogle and Monster Energy/Yamalube/Chaparral/Yamaha Financial Services/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb, who had actually pulled the holeshot in the aborted start. Meanwhile, previous round winner Eli Tomac got his Monster Energy Kawasaki away in seventh place while Dungey got an even more terrible start and was mired deep in the 22-rider field.
While Musqiun set sail, Webb battled with Bogle for second place on the opening lap, and Webb made the pass on the next lap. Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely also got past Bogle to run third. Tomac, who was looking for his third win in a row, began to tear through the pack, and he caught Bogle and took over fourth place by lap six.
But that’s when the race began to get unpredictable.
Webb slowed and was forced to pit when he suffered a flat rear tire. That allowed Seely to move into second and Tomac into third. Then Tomac crashed on lap eight, and the damage forced him to pit, dropping him out of the race for the podium. With Tomac effectively out of the battle for the podium, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson moved into third place, just ahead of Dean Wilson and Dungey, who had passed his way up to fifth place after starting 13th. Dungey tried to find a way around Wilson, but Wilson was riding fast enough to frustrate the champ, who was unable to find a way by Wilson until lap 20.
With no one to challenge him, Musquin claimed his first career 450cc main event win while Seely equaled his season-best result in the runner-up spot. Anderson landed with his first podium of the year in third place, and Dungey finished fourth, marking the first time he has failed to land on the podium in 2017. Wilson was fifth, followed by RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Broc Tickle, Autotrader/JGR/Suzuki/Toyota/Monster Energy Suzuki’s Jake Weimer, Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS’ Davi Millsaps, Bogle and Ride365.com/Stewart Racing Suzuki’s Malcolm Stewart. In his first race back since suffering an injury at the season opener in Anaheim, Red Bull KTM’s Trey Canard finished 11th. Webb and Tomac finished 14th and 15th respectively.
Musquin became the 61st different 450SX Class winner in AMA Supercross history. He is the first Frenchman to claim an AMA Supercross win since David Vuillemin did the deed back in 2002.
“I was super calm, trying to stay relaxed and not put any pressure on myself,” Musquin said. “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.”
Despite finishing off of the podium, Dungey gained an additional point advantage, going from 17 points to 18 points over the second-placed man, which happens to be Musquin, who displaced Tomac in the series standings, as did Seely.
Round seven of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series is scheduled to take place at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 18.
2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
AT&T Stadium
Arlington, Texas
February 11, 2017 (Round 6 of 17)
450cc Main
1. Marvin Musquin-KTM
2. Cole Seely-Hon
3. Jason Anderson-KTM
5. Dean Wilson-Hus
6. Broc Tickle-Suz
7. Jake Weimer-Suz
8. Davi Millsaps-KTM
9. Justin Bogle-Suz
10. Malcolm Stewart-Suz
11. Trey Canard-KTM
12. Vince Friese-Hon
13. Mike Alessi-Hon
14. Cooper Webb-Yam
15. Eli Tomac-Kaw
16. Jimmy Albertson-Suz
17. Blake Baggett-KTM
18. Austin Politelli-Yam
19. Chad Reed-Yam
20. Alex Ray-Hus
21. Cade Clason-Hon
22. Justin Brayton-Hon
2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (after 6 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-129/1 win
2. Marvin Musquin-111/1 win
3. Cole Seely-107
4. Eli Tomac-100/2 wins
5. Jason Anderson-85
6. Davi Millsaps-83
7. Cooper Webb-71
8. Chad Reed-64
9. Dean Wilson-64
10. Broc Tickle-55
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