Image: Supplied.

Frenchman Marvin Musquin believes he was in for a stronger race at Atlanta’s ninth round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship on Saturday night.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing positioned himself second early on in the main event, apply pressure to eventual winner and teammate Cooper Webb, however a mistake in the closing stages saw him relinquish P2 to Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) and ultimately had to settle for third.

Musquin is yet to taste victory in the 2019 season, however he’s been extremely consistent, landing on the podium six times in the first nine rounds.

“It felt like it was going to be a better race for me,” Musquin admitted. “I had a great start so I was running second, which was good but I was eating a lot of sand in the sand section it was definitely tough.

“I was pushing really hard – I was better than Cooper in some areas of the track, so I was able to really put pressure on him in some areas but then I would go through the sand and I had to go in the main line because it was the safest and the quickest line but you kind of had to follow.

“I made a mistake and went off the main line and then Baggett got me. At this point, I just could not make the pass on Blake, even though I showed some really good speed. It’s only a third place tonight and I’m not very happy with the result.”

The AMA Supercross series heads to Daytona International Speedway this weekend for the 10th stop of tour.