"Now I'm Focusing on Myself" | Marvin Musquin on Baker's Vs. DV's Training

Knowing when it’s time to step away from racing is a decision every rider will have to make. Veteran of the sport, Marvin Musquin, has been racing in America since the 2011 season, he’s 32 years old, has had a successful career with a 250 SX championship and multiple 450 wins. He also has his first child on the way. So, when is it time to hang the boots up and relax? For Marvin, it’s not today. He recently once again went undefeated at Red Bull Straight Rhythm and feels he can still be on the podium in supercross. He visited with us recently to let us know what his plans are. 

         For the full interview, check out the YouTube video right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: I heard you were out testing today. How is it going? How's the bike? Have you made any improvements?

Marvin Musquin: Yeah, it's good to have people from Austria coming over and try new things on the bike. We’ve been trying some different linkages, front end, or whatever they have in store. And it's always interesting to have a different feel on the bike and always looking forward to new things. It’s a very busy time of the year.

Vital MX: Have you noticed big improvements so far in the testing?

Marvin: There is a bunch of stuff that they wanted to try. I just needed to go through what they offer me and then after that I can pick some things that I like. Then we will keep working on suspensions with the team in the following weeks.

Vital MX: You mentioned linkages. Are there any other things that you can tell us that you guys have changed to try to improve that has worked?

Marvin: There is also engine parts that we tried that have different character in the engine. Obviously, horsepower isn’t something I need more of. There's a big difference between racing in America and racing in Europe. In Europe they can do so much more because of the rules here in the US. You can't change things like the swingarm, for example, or the frame, you know what I'm saying? That's why I mentioned linkages or triple clamps and suspension. That's the main thing right now.

Vital MX: I want to tell you congrats on the last couple of months. Second at Motocross of Nations and total domination at Red Bull Straight Rhythm. I would assume as you get further in your career, knowing that you can still win means a little bit more than when you were younger. Knowing that you still have it.

Marvin: Yeah, it's funny you say that because I was actually standing on the podium at Straight Rhythm and I told myself, “I’m 32 years old, almost 33. And standing on top of the podium”. I know it's Red Bull Straight Rhythm. It's a different kind of event. So yeah, very cool. I've always said in interviews that as long as I'm competitive, I want to keep racing. I want to keep racing for the Factory KTM team at the top level. Right now, I want to be competitive because I'm part of such a big team. I don't want to be out there and not represent the brand as much as I want to. I don't want to be out of the top ten for example. I want to be fighting for a top five, top three. If I can get a win, that would be awesome in supercross. 

Vital MX: Considering you still are a podium contender, this year alone you had six podiums with a win at St Louis, are you a little disappointed Thor did not renew your contract?

Marvin: I don’t know the business side. Maybe they had different priorities. I'm not in their shoes. Maybe things have changed in their company. But, at the same time, yes, I was disappointed. But right now, I'm in a very happy place and I have great support from O'Neal. From Mark and Frank. They've been doing a fantastic job and obviously I'm very proud and happy for them that I gave them a win at Red Bull Straight Rhythm for the first time in their gear. Like I said, the support has been unbelievable and they're pushing really hard. I got all the gear set up in a very short time. I’m looking forward to my next race at Paris Supercross and it's a very important event for me and looking forward to representing O'Neal again.

Vital MX: You're on a supercross only program for ’23. Mentally does it make the training, the day to day grind a little easier, knowing that you should have a little bit of a break come summertime?

Marvin: That's a good question. But at the same time, it's still a 17-round season, which is a very long season. To be able to race for 20 minutes in a main event in supercross, you still have to do a lot of training. So, at the end I think my preparation for supercross is exactly the same as if I would be racing outdoors. But like you said, probably mentally it changes a little bit. knowing I had a supercross only contract made me feel like, ‘okay, after Salt Lake City, then I'm done’.

Michael Lindsay – Vital MX: If an outdoor opportunity arose, would you consider it?

Marvin: Right now, I don't know, because it's really far away. Like I said, knowing I have 17 rounds mentally, it really sets you up. That's exactly what I felt when I got to Salt Lake City. It wasn’t a relief, but it was, “I did it”, you know? And then mentally, I was kind of tired after that. To go out and then race outdoors, especially on a 450 will be a lot for me at this stage of my career. 

ML: You're training with David Vuillemin again. What's the difference in training with David versus with Aldon? Why is it better for you?

Marvin: The relationship with David is very easy and we speak the same language. It’s easy communication. I wanted something different. Aldon's program is great. I did it for seven years. We were a bunch of riders that pretty much do the same program. Right now, I’m more focused on myself. I do the bicycle on my own. It is hard mentally, but it's also part of it to be by myself. I want to have DV out on the track to work more on the riding itself. We still do a lot of laps, but we do work on some technique, and I did learn a few things with him, that's for sure. That's exactly what I needed. That's the biggest difference is I'm not with a group of guys and just follow what the other guys are doing. I still put in a lot of work. I do still long bike rides and it's difficult physically.

Vital MX: Do you find it more difficult to get the intensity up when you're on the bike riding by yourself as opposed to having somebody battling with you?

Marvin: Yeah, that's true. That's why there are good things about being with a group and you push yourself. You just have to be careful sometimes not to get too caught up in this. And that's what happened to me some years where I wouldn't want to get beat in practice, which is a good thing, but it could be a bad thing.

ML: Have you or will you be spending time on the track with Tom Vialle? 

Marvin: It’s a different program. But he's out here right now in California, so we see each other sometimes at the track. But it will always be good if we can share some things out on the track and ride together.

Vital MX: Do you still find the enjoyment in the grind of training? 

Marvin: Yes, there is always the fact that when you have a long bike ride and it's really hard mentally and when you're done with it, you're like, “dang, that's what I did, and I did it”. And I was proud of myself for doing it, you know? That's my job and I want to do it. Right now, I could say I don't want to do it and I can stop for sure. But I want to do it. DV last year and then this year again, before we start doing the program, he says, “Hey, what do you want? What do you want to do this year? What's your goal”? My goal was the same as last year. I said, “This year I want to be competitive again”. I'm ready to do a full program this winter. I'm ready to put in some work because I want to be competitive. If not, I will not even ask DV for a program and I would just go out and ride and then that's it, you know what I'm saying? I need to follow a program. 

Vital MX: What are a couple highlights from your career? I want to know more about opportunities that you've gotten because of what you do, whether it be the travel, places you've been to, people you've met.

Marvin: Yeah, it's a good question. Besides winning races, the first thing that comes to my mind is as soon as I became a professional racer. When I was in France and Europe, getting to travel to different countries. Becoming World Champion in Brazil. That was unique because I didn't have my family there or my close friends to celebrate. So that was strange. The second year I did win the title in Europe. That was in Holland. So, I had my parents there and my friends. So that was cool. Racing Paris supercross. Not even racing, but we did a demo on 85s with the top French 85 riders. That was back in 2005. We were throwing heel clickers and stuff. The crowd was going wild and a couple of years later I become King of Paris a couple of times. I got it three times now. It's just something that you dream of when you're a kid. I used to go to Paris Supercross, do the opening ceremony on my 65, and then I was able to race it on a 125, on 250s, and stuff like that. And then dreaming of racing in American supercross, Anaheim Stadium for example. And now in my living room I have the gold trophy from Anaheim 1 that I won on a 450. And having a championship plate. Unfortunately, I only got one on the 250, but that's one that I got.

Vital MX: What defines success to you?

Marvin: I think getting the respect from the American people because me and my wife, we did move to America. We were 20 years old. So, this is huge and having a lot of support, a lot of love from American people. Yeah, this is definitely, definitely winning. Winning obviously means a lot. There's nothing better than crossing the line and seeing the checkered flag for yourself. So of course, yeah, it means a lot.

Vital MX: Your wife, Mathilde, has been a huge part of your program. We've seen countless videos of her out there supporting you, holding the pit board and I love stuff like that. I love that she's a part of it and it's positive. You're about to expand your family. How do you see that effecting your program.

Marvin: That was definitely our goal, to have a child. But the seasons just went by, you know, one after another and you're asking, “should we wait until I'm done racing and have a kid”? But I keep racing every single year. I'm about to turn 33. We really wanted to have a kid anyway, but we didn't know really when. And well, it's due at the end of the year, right before the season. And we are going to do it as a family. I'm excited about it. I know my wife is going to be amazing. We want to travel to every single race together. We've been doing this since we got together. And this won't change with our child. We want to be together, stick together all the time. So yeah, that would be next year, first time racing season as a dad, so looking forward to it.