Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin delivered a strong and consistent performance at Saturday’s Washougal National to claim a season-best fourth overall in the 450MX class. The French rider scored his first podium finish of the season with an impressive third-place in Moto 1 and he backed it up with a top-five in Moto 2 to land just outside the overall podium at Round 7 of the 2021 AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Washington.
Musquin aligned himself with success early in the day, claiming P2 in qualifying before powering his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to a top-five start in 450MX Moto 1. He charged into the podium battle early on, eventually making his move into second about halfway through the race. With three laps to go, Musquin made a mistake that resulted in a crash, and he quickly remounted to still claim his first podium finish of the season in Moto 1.
In Moto 2, Musquin had a good jump off the line but he got pinched off coming into the first turn and quickly found himself in 15th on the first lap. By the halfway point, Musquin had tenaciously passed into fifth and he continued his charge to claim a top-five finish. With a pair of season-best 3-5 moto scores, Musquin earned his best overall finish of the season in fourth.
Musquin: “The day started off awesome, the feeling was great and I was excited for the racing. I was really happy about my intensity, that’s something that I’ve been looking for and I made it happen. In the first moto, I felt like I was riding really good towards the end but I tried to push hard to make a gap on him and unfortunately the front went away on me and I climbed up and into a berm and went down. In the second moto, it was a lot of effort to pass people and I think that got me towards the end. I knew fifth wasn’t going to be enough for an overall podium, which is a bummer, but it’s my best result so far this year and I showed a lot more today. That’s what I needed and what I wanted.”
Cooper Webb also had a strong start to the day, scoring second in the first qualifying session and ninth overall heading into the motos. In Moto 1, he put himself into the mix right away as he battled in third for the first five laps. He got passed into fifth mid-way through the race and eventually settled into seventh through the second half, finishing seventh in the moto.
In Moto 2, Webb captured the holeshot aboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION and battled up front early on. He settled into a top-five running before engaging in battle with his teammate Musquin, mid-way through the race. The KTM duo continued to battle through the final laps with Webb finishing close behind in sixth. With 7-6 moto scores, he came away with sixth overall on the day.
Webb: “It was a little better today even though the results don’t show it. My starts were good in both motos and I felt pretty good but it seemed like those top guys were really hauling the mail today. We’ll go into this break and try to get some more speed and intensity to run up front at Unadilla.”
Max Vohland had a consistent weekend of racing in the 250MX class, scoring a top-10 overall finish at Round 7. In Moto 1, Vohland started around 13th and he put his head down to charge up to a ninth-place finish. In Moto 2, the young rookie found himself shuffled back to 13th early in the race, which set him up for a difficult charge through the field. Vohland made his way into 12th late in the race and held strong to piece together a top-10 overall on the weekend.
Vohland: “It was a pretty consistent weekend for me. I rode pretty good in the first moto and I was happy with that. I started a little bit further back in the second moto and made my way to 12th but I didn’t really ride well – I wasn’t really flowing on the bike and I was just kind of choppy and holding on tight. I’ve got some stuff to work on going into this two-week break before Unadilla, I’m really looking forward to getting stronger and faster, and getting better results.”
The AMA Pro Motocross Championship will take a two-week break before returning to racing action on Saturday, August 14 with the Unadilla National in New Berlin, New York.
Results 450MX Class – Washougal National
1. Chase Sexton (USA), Honda, 1-3
2. Eli Tomac (USA), Kawasaki, 2-2
3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA), Yamaha, 5-1
4. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM, 3-5
OTHER KTM
6. Cooper Webb (USA), KTM, 7-6
10. Joey Savatgy (USA), KTM, 10-9
14. Justin Bogle (USA), KTM, 13-16
16. Ben LaMay (USA), KTM, 15-16
26. Layton Smail (USA), KTM
27. Morgan Burger (USA), KTM
33. Connor Olson (USA), KTM
35. Devon Bates (USA), KTM
40. Fredrik Noren (SWE), KTM
Results 250MX Class – Washougal National
1. Jeremy Martin (USA), Yamaha, 3-1
2. RJ Hampshire (USA), Husqvarna, 2-3
3. Justin Cooper (USA), Yamaha, 1-8
OTHER KTM
10. Max Vohland (USA), KTM, 9-12
19. Christopher Prebula (USA), KTM, 22-17
20. Josh Varize (USA), KTM, 17-39
25. Xylian Ramella (SWI), KTM
33. Kyle Greeson (USA), KTM
36. Devin Harriman (USA), KTM
38. Tyler Ducray (USA), KTM
Standings 450MX Class 2021 after 7 of 12 rounds
1. Dylan Ferrandis, 303 points
2. Ken Roczen, 256
3. Eli Tomac, 249
OTHER KTM
8. Marvin Musquin, 177
9. Cooper Webb, 177
11. Joey Savatgy, 144
14. Justin Bogle, 86
16. Fredrik Noren, 58
Standings 250MX Class 2021 after 7 of 12 rounds
1. Justin Cooper, 281 points
2. Jett Lawrence, 273
3. Hunter Lawrence, 237
OTHER KTM
13. Max Vohland, 120
20. Josh Varize, 41