Marvin Musquin Crowned King of Paris

KTM Press Release

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing stars Marvin Musquin and Tony Cairoli were among the main protagonists at the La Defense Arena for the Paris Supercross and Europe’s most popular annual SX event. Musquin swept the entire race card to be crowned ‘King of Paris’ for the third time.

The Paris Supercross returned for 2021 and with a simplified track layout to entice some of the leading figures in MXGP as well as a selection of entries from the USA and the AMA Supercross series. Among the travellers from the United State was Marvin Musquin: the Frenchman was a race winner at Paris-Lille in 2016 and laid his hands on the ‘King’ crown once more in the first edition of the meeting in the modern La Defense Arena in 2017.

The soon-to-be 32-year-old is one of KTM’s longest-serving racers, having joined the factory squad during 2009. #25, who claimed a round of the 2021 AMA series and is still among the most competitive names in the American contest, set his speed from the outset and aced the Superpole. He controlled the first two sprints and faced some opposition from Justin Brayton in the third but took his KTM 450 SX-F to a 1-1-1 streak to earn the plaudits ahead of Cedric Soubeyras.

Cairoli, fresh after pulling the curtain on his full-time eighteen-year Grand Prix career and a rapturous reception at the EICMA show in Milan, decided to attempt Paris after initially entering the race back in 2011. The Sicilian improved through the afternoon. A small crash at the start of the first Sprint meant he was 17th but he clocked 6th and then a decent 3rd in the final race to rank 7th overall; two places behind Chad Reed who also rode a KTM 450 SX-F.

Marvin Musquin: “King of Paris 2021; that was obviously the goal and I came here well prepared as we are getting closer to the new supercross season in January. This event is always a good training for me although it was different this year as the track had no whoops. It was fun anyway and the soil was choppy: it was still challenging. I wanted to get holeshots, be at the front and keep pushing to the end. I’m happy. It was a one-day format this time but I enjoyed it and went 1-2 with my buddy Cedric Soubeyras: two Frenchies! That was pretty amazing.”

Tony Cairoli: “It was a nice event. I wasn’t really that well prepared for supercross with MXGP finishing so late and didn’t have the best rhythm in the first sessions but found more flow in Main Events and reached the top three by the end. It was nice to way the season and with this experience.”

Watch a replay of the event