Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin continues to step into his stride late in the AMA Supercross Championship season, where he captured a second-straight podium finish in the highly competitive 450SX class. Teammate Cooper Webb fought back from a pretty big practice crash earlier in the day to come away with sixth-place in the Main Event.
Qualifying a season-best second earlier in the day, Musquin got right into racing as the gate dropped for 450SX Heat 1, powering his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into second off the start. He pressured the leader early on before settling into a comfortable second-place position that he carried through the checkers.
In the Main Event, Musquin started off in fourth and he battled just outside podium contention for the first half of racing. Putting himself in the right place, Musquin capitalized on Justin Barcia’s mid-race crash and he charged into the third-place position. He held strong for the remainder of the race to secure his second-straight podium finish.
Marvin Musquin: “To get on the podium tonight is huge! My speed was good today and my starts were good too. I didn’t have the pace in the first few laps but I tried to focus on myself. Malcolm was there behind me until the last lap, so I had to stay really focused and charge really hard. I closed the gap a little bit but that track was super tough so I’m pretty happy to be healthy and moving to the next round having a weekend off.”
Despite a tough start to the day, defending 450SX Champion Cooper Webb turned things around to come away with a decent finish in Seattle. After experiencing an issue with his start device in 450SX Heat 1, Webb found himself just inside the top-10 on the opening lap. Picking up speed as the race went on, he was able to claw his way back to a sixth-place finish in the heat.
In the Main Event, Webb once again had his work cut out for him with a mid-pack position off the start. Rounding the opening lap in 14th, he put his head down and charged into the top-10 a few laps in. Slowly moving up the ranks, Webb made his way into sixth just before the mid-way point. He put himself in position to battle for a top-five spot late in the race, where he ultimately finished only a couple seconds back in sixth.
Cooper Webb: “Seattle was a bit of a tough day and into the night. I had a pretty bad practice crash that left me pretty banged up on the opposite shoulder, which is never great. I got Dr. G to help me and we got dialed in for the night show. In the heat race, I had a malfunction where the holeshot device came undone so I got a pretty bad start. I didn’t go great in the heat race, which left me with a bad gate pick for the Main Event and I did what I could with a bad start to charge back into sixth.”
Next Race: April 9 – St. Louis, Missouri
Results 450SX Class – Seattle SX
1. Eli Tomac (USA), Yamaha, 26 laps
2. Jason Anderson (USA), Kawasaki, +08.615
3. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM, +10.094
OTHER KTM
6. Cooper Webb (USA), KTM
16. Kevin Moranz (USA), KTM
17. Fredrik Noren (USA), KTM
18. Tristan Lane (USA), KTM
Standings 450SX Class 2022 after 12 of 17 rounds
1. Eli Tomac, 281 points
2. Jason Anderson, 227
3. Justin Barcia, 222
OTHER KTM
5. Cooper Webb, 208
6. Marvin Musquin, 206
12. Shane McElrath, 101
14. Aaron Plessinger, 97
20. Max Anstie, 55