Geneve SX – Report

Marvin On Top!

Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin cannot be stopped in the build-up to the 2018 AMA Supercross series. Using his KTM 450 SX-F the French star owned both evenings of the well-attended Geneva Supercross at the Palexpo last weekend to be crowned ‘King of Geneva’ for the fourth time.
#25 triumphed on Friday night and then took advantage of slip by training partner Jason Anderson to win Saturday’s Main Event across a tight and rough layout by almost five seconds.

After victory in Las Vegas, the Red Bull Straight Rhythm, the Paris Supercross and now the last major dirt bike racing fixture of 2017, the 27 year old will enter the new supercross campaign in good form and confidence.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson claimed the runner-up position on both nights of racing. Finishing a close second on Friday’s opening final, Anderson repeated his performance during Saturday’s race, missing out on the win by less than three seconds.

Fresh from his overall win at the Aus-X Open Supercross in Australia at the beginning of November, Jason Anderson brought his winning pace to Europe and the 2017 Geneva Supercross in Switzerland. After qualifying fourth on Friday, he went on to win his heat race from fellow American, Justin Brayton. Going into the SX Open final, Anderson held the lead for the first two laps but was then passed by eventual winner, Marvin Musquin. The pair battled for top honours throughout the race with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider finishing as runner-up at the flag, trailing the winner by only four seconds.

Saturday also went well for Anderson as he won his semi-final. A great start from the gate in the final gave the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider the holeshot and the race lead during the first few laps. Setting a good pace at the front, Jason and second-placed Marvin Musquin soon started to gap the rest of the field. Unfortunately, a small mistake on a slower part of the track resulted in Anderson dropping his bike and losing the lead. Despite remounting and fighting hard to catch Musquin, there wasn’t enough time left and Anderson crossed the line as runner-up, just two-and-a-half seconds from the win.

Marvin Musquin: “The goal was to come here and win like I did in Paris two weeks ago and also here last year. I knew coming in with Jason and Justin Brayton there would be some good racing. The track was pretty good; a really nice whoops section and a couple of nice rhythm sections and the split section was pretty cool. It got beaten up with the soft dirt and it became choppy and rutted and was technical. On Friday Jason and I had an intense battle: it could have been dirty but we kept it clean! At the end I was able to make the pass stick and beat him straight-up. A different story on Saturday because he had the better start and we were going for it and pushing hard. My aim was to put pressure on him and to see what would happen with that pressure. He made it easy for me by making a mistake and going down, after that I just managed the gap. It is great to win here four times in a row.”

Jason Anderson: “Day one went well here in Geneva. From the first practice to the last I was just learning the whole process. I didn’t realise the first practice was timed but still managed to qualify fourth which was ok. After making a few tweaks to my bike before going into the night-race I knew I just had to get a good start and get up front to battle with the guys. It didn’t come as easily as I had thought, Brayton and Musquin were really strong and it took a little time for me to get into my rhythm. In the main I felt comfortable and it was good to be able to fight for the win.
Saturday was pretty decent – I qualified second, which was good. In my heat race I stalled on the line and fought my way right back to the front from last place. The track here in Geneva is a little tighter than I’m used to so I’ve found it quite tiring and it’s taken a little while to adapt my style. In the main I got the holeshot and tried to control the race from the front, but I knew Marvin wasn’t far behind. A couple of minutes in I dropped the bike in one of the tighter turns and lost the lead. I tried my best to get back on terms with the leader but there wasn’t enough time. I’m happy with how I rode and I’ll definitely be back to Geneva next year to fight for the win.”