MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 25, 2011) – KTM rider Marvin Musquin is the recipient of the first Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award of the 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. The award goes to the athlete who passes the most competitors in a single moto at each of the 12 rounds of the series. It symbolizes its namesake’s never-surrender determination that carried him to 102-career AMA Pro Motocross wins and 10 consecutive AMA Pro Motocross Championship – both records.
At the Rockstar Energy Hangtown Classic, the rider who passed the most competitors in a moto was actually making his debut in the series. Musquin, the 21-year-old import from Le Reole, France, who traded in a pair of World Motocross MX2 Championship titles for a shot at an AMA title with KTM, was on the starting gate for the first time in 2011, after missing the entire AMA Supercross tour with a knee injury he suffered last November before moving to the U.S.
Now, Musquin is competing for the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in the 250 Class. He started off his season with a solid fourth-place finish in the first moto, but then went down in a pile-up in the second turn of Moto 2 on the incredibly rough Hangtown track. However, the Frenchman put his head down and went to work. He completed the first full lap in 30th place, but already moved into 22nd after the second of 15 laps. From there, he continued to move forward. He finally took the checkered flag in sixth, which was good for fifth-place overall in his American Motocross debut.
After the race Musquin said, “It was a lot different, but it was fun – I liked the change. Finally racing outdoors, it was a dream for me. Now it is my goal.”
When asked how he crashed in the second moto, Musquin responded, “I don’t really know! I was on the inside and tried to get (by) some riders, and it was really tough. Maybe I lost my front wheel, or maybe I touched another guy – I don’t really know.
“I just kept racing, kept pushing,” he continued. “I was a little bit tired around maybe five minutes before the end, but my fitness was good. The track was really rough, but good, and my KTM is a good bike.”
Musquin’s resilient top-five overall effort was the goal for his first Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship race. With the first round of 2011 finally under his belt, he will likely be a contender soon – maybe even this weekend at the second round of the series, the Rockstar Energy Freestone National from Wortham, Texas, this Saturday, May 28.
Musquin will be presented with the Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award at Saturday’s pre-race riders meeting and recognized in front of his fellow athletes on the American Motocross tour.
