Image: Octopi Media.

Anaheim 1 top-qualifier Malcolm Stewart was left furious at Marvin Musquin after the pair came together and went down in the 450SX main event, resulting in a heated exchange post-race.

Red Bull KTM’s Musquin has since addressed the move, which he says was unintentional, but only after he was blasted by Stewart after the checkered flag on Saturday night.

“I’m happy right now,” Musquin said. “It was a long and tough day, with quite a fight for the main event. I did my best with outside gate pick and I made some good passes, so I was pumped on the riding and the intensity early on. I made a couple mistakes and I lost contact with Cooper [Webb] and then Malcolm passed me.

“I tried to pass him to the inside, but unfortunately, he railed the corner and we hit each other – he didn’t know I was coming – and we both went down. I got up and came back to fourth place, that was amazing. I’m pumped on the push and with the results, to be honest, with all the drama that happened during the main.”

While Musquin was able to quickly remount and charge on to fourth, Stewart – on debut with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna – finished seventh and didn’t really reference the fall afterwards.

“I think this was actually one of the better season-openers for me since I started in the 450 class,” Stewart recalled. “Going into the weekend, I wanted to execute a few things like having a good heat race, and I was able to do that.

“P1 for a qualifying, I’ve never done that before, so I feel like that was a big achievement for me and even though we went down in the main event, it was actually a good ride performance-wise but you know, the results weren’t there.

“It was a good start but I definitely feel there are a few things that we need to work on, but overall I’m happy to leave here on a good note and looking forward to Oakland and to keep driving – we’ve got 16 more races to go!”