The MX-2 world championship came down to a straight race between team-mates Marvin Musquin and Rui Goncalves in Canelinha, Brazil, and after Saturday’s action was a wash-out, it left the Frenchman needing a victory in Sunday’s first race to claim the title.
Instead, the 19-year-old ran away with the whole weekend taking a clean sweep with victories in both motos, the overall GP and the world championship. Goncalves finished second overall to claim a double victory and top off a fantastic season for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team.
"I'm very happy to have won the title. It was a perfect day for me today,” said Musquin (seen here posing with MX-1 world champion Tony Cairoli.
KTM/Red Bull Photofiles
With a 22-point deficit coming into the grand prix, Goncalves was philosophical after falling just short of the world championship. "Being runner-up is also good. I've also made some history for my country. I’m the first Portuguese rider to win GPs and to be the runner-up so that's a great feeling.”
Also outstanding was the performance of German prodigy Ken Roczen, who finished second in both motos to claim fifth place in the final reckoning for the championship – a feat which is all the more remarkable given that the Teka Suzuki Europe rider missed the first four races because he only turned 15 in April.
"It has been an incredible season for me,” said Roczen. “It is great to finish the season with second place and a podium finish, so I am really happy about that. The first race was fun but the second was even better and the most important thing is that it was clean.”
“In the second race I had a great fight with Roczen and I was very happy to ride with him,” agreed Musquin. “I think we will have some good clean and fair fights on the track next year and I look forward to that.”
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