Although Marvin Musquin is originally from France, he has made Florida his home here stateside in pursuit of the best training grounds possible. The Tampa Supercross marks the first Supercross back in the city since 1999 and it is a short drive from where Musquin resides. Combined with the fact that the season has been quite tumultuous so far, a special press conference took place ahead of race day at Raymond James Stadium. We took the opportunity to get in a quick interview with Musquin to discuss the season, the 2018 Tampa Supercross, and what it’s like racing so close to home. 

At the beginning of the year, you had the win at Anaheim One and then the crash and injury at Houston. But now you're really not too far out of this championship. Do you have a plan for the remainder of the season or do you just take things race by race?

For sure you take it race by race. I'm pretty far back in the championship after that DNF and dislocating my shoulder and not being able to compete at the level that I want to. I'm getting better every weekend and now we're back on the podium over the last two weekends. To be honest, I don't really look at the championship. I just want to be the best out there and to get a lot of points.

Being that you've trained in Florida for the last few years and now we're in Tampa, does anything change for you because you have no extensive travel to get to the race?
It changes a little bit and it was nice to drive here, like when we are in California for Anaheim or San Diego. We need this because a lot of guys are based in Florida now and it's nice to race close to home.

It's hard to miss the bright white sand section in the middle of the track. When you have a flow with the rest of the track and you come to that, something that changes in traction and terrain, is there any different technique involved?
Yeah, for sure you have to have technique to adapt. We will definitely have to adapt to that sand section. It'll be the same for everyone.

Tampa is quite a bit warmer than what we are used to for Supercross. You train in the heat week to week, but does it change anything when it's significantly warmer?
Yeah, it'll be good to see how strong I am in those conditions. Now I am used to it from training in Florida, that's why we are down here, to get used to the humidity. It's not summer yet, but you can feel the heat and tomorrow will be warm.