Musquin Surprised By Not Getting Picked For France Motocross De Nations Team
If Red Bull KTM rider,
Marvin Musquin, placed his million dollar winnings from the 2017
Monster Energy Cup on a bet that he would be chosen to ride for the
French Motocross De Nations (MDN) team this year, he'd have a
million less dollars today.
[caption id="attachment_69976" align="aligncenter"
width="300"]
Image: Red Bull KTM[/caption]
Yesterday, the French team was announced and much to the surprise
and chagrin of many, especially Musquin, he was not named as one of
the three riders. The four-time defending French team will be
fielded by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Gautier
Paulin and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing's Romain
Febvre riding 450s in the MXGP class and Open class respectively,
while Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha
Factory Racing's Dylan Ferrandis will ride a 250 in the MX2 class.
Obviously Musquin felt he should have been selected for one of the
450 spots, most likely the MXGP spot, and deservedly so. The past
two years the French rider has been a force to be reckoned with not
only on American soil but across the pond as well.
[caption id="attachment_69974" align="aligncenter"
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Image : Monster
Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Factory Racing[/caption]
Starting in 2017 Musquin placed third overall in the Supercross
season and then nearly rode away with the Outdoors title, finishing
the season only 17 points behind the champion, Eli Tomac. The KTM
rider quickly made up for those two short comings by sweeping the
Monster Energy Cup and becoming the second rider in the event's
history to win the $1 Million grand prize. He then slaughtered the
competition in the Straight Rhythm Event and didn't lose a single
race, capturing his second Straight Rhythm title in a row. Next, he
fly home to France to win the Paris Supercross and then skipped
over to Switzerland for where he was crowned King of Geneva
Supercross.
For 2018 he started the Supercross season off with a bang taking
the victory and red plate and the season opener in Anaheim. The
following race in Houston he took a hard tumble in his heat race
and owed out of the remainder of the event to a shoulder injury.
Bruised and sore but determined to win his first 450SX title, he
was back at the gate the following week for A2 where he would log
his worst finish the entire season, 13th place. He
chased Jason Anderson down all the way to the final race of the
season in Vegas where he missed the championship by only 14
points.
Now more determined than ever with only three races left in the
outdoors series Musquin is only 15 points back from series leader
Tomac. And let's not forget only a month ago when he went 2-1 to
win Redbud-where the MDN will take place this year. Oh AND
the France Federation was there and watched him WIN!!!
Actually, Musquin has done quite well at Redbud. Aside from
winning this season, except for 2011 when he was out due to injury,
he hasn't finished outside of the top 10 in either the 250 class
(2012-2015) or the 450 class (2016-current).
[caption id="attachment_69975" align="aligncenter"
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Image: Red Bull KTM[/caption]
So yeah you would have thought it was a no brainer that Musquin
would be on the team-especially since he's been rather successful
at RedBud the past seven years and would have more experience on
that track than any of the other 450 French riders. In fact,
according to the post Musquin made on Facebook in regards to him
not being selected to ride for team France, he assumed he was a
shoe in as well.
Hello everyone,
As you might have heard already thru the video posted by the
French Federation today, I've had the unpleasant surprise to find
out that I wasn't picked to race the MX of Nations for Team
France.
I think it's now important that I say a few words about what
Jacques Bolle, President of the French Federation, said at the team
announcement were the reasons and factors they looked at in
selecting the team this year.
First of all, the motivation... For the record, the French
coach came to America for the Red Bud National and spoke with me
there to make sure I was motivated and available to race Des
Nations. I confirmed I was 100% motivated and that being teammate
with Dylan Ferrandis would be great! Also, what greater motivation
is there for me to perform than to race in front of the world here
in the US, on a track I just won? If that's not motivation enough
then I don't know what would be!
Jacques Bolle also talks about the importance for the rider to
be healthy and performing good around this time of the year.
Seriously, what do you want me to say to that... ? My results speak
for themselves. I finished 2nd in the AMA SX Championship this year
and I'm currently a title contender for the outdoor championship
with three races left! I won Red Bud this year and I've been racing
at Red Bud for the last 8years.....
I'll save everyone time and not go into details about the
planning and logistics that have already gone in to be part of that
race from either my side, my Red Bull KTM teams side, the factory,
my sponsors and or the rest of my crew....
To me it's sad to be overlooked again especially given the race
is going to be here in the US where I compete almost every weekend
for the last 8 years now and against many top riders that I am sure
will be selected on the US home team. But I do really want to thank
everyone who has and continues to support me and thank all the
French, American, and all the other fans who have shown their
support for me after this announcement. It means a lot to me.
It's not to say that the three French riders that were chosen
aren't' deserving of their spots. All of them have been doing quite
well with Febvre taking the MXGP title in 2015 and Paulin right
behind him in second. Most recently Paulin was third in MXGP for
2017. In the US Ferrandis is currently 10th in the 250 Outdoor
series after missing the first three rounds due to injury he
suffered in the 2018 250SX East season. All three riders have
played roles in the French team's recent four-year win streak at
MDN, most notably Paulin and Febvre helping the team win in 2015,
2016, and 217, and Ferrandis doing his part in 2014. Musquin has
been there for the French team too, he helped the team win in
2015.
In 2016 Musquin wasn't chosen and in 2017 he made the decision not
to participate because of an injury. Despite his riding,
achievements the past two years, and success at RedBud, for the
French coach to fly out to Redbud, speak with Musquin about his
motivation to be on the team, watch him win the race, and then not
select him seems to send a message that something is fermenting in
France and it's not the Époisses.
