Former British Champ seals AMA title
By Team TMX on 23rd Aug 17
AMA Pro Motocross Zach Osborne
Former British MX2 champion Zach Osborne clinched the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship MX2 crown at Budds Creek on Saturday with victory in the second moto.
For the 27-year-old - who won the 2010 British championship racing for Steve Dixon's Bike It Yamaha team - it was only fitting to take the title at the track where he led his first laps of pro racing back in 2006 and took his first AMA outdoor overall last year.
Despite starting the penultimate round of the series with a comfortable 63-point lead it was wasn't all plain sailing for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider after he went down at the first turn and came back from 36th to eighth.
"The first moto was tough," said Zach, who also won this year's 250 East SX title. "I just didn't get off the gate very good and got down in that first turn with a couple of guys and had to battle back and it was pretty tough to pass.
"That's kinda been the way of my series - the only [holeshot] I know was Hangtown. It's not like it's been holeshots and rainbows all summer - I've had to battle from the back a lot so it's something that I've kinda gotten used to.
"It was really frustrating for me to be down in the first turn so coming to the second moto they were all doing math in the truck but I knew it would be easiest if I just won the moto so I put myself in the position to do so.
"It's awesome to wrap it up here at a track that I really love and enjoy. When I passed the mechanics' area on the last lap and saw the whole team cheering I got cold chills. It kinda all hit me."
Zach's battled personal issues off the track this season - his wife sadly suffered a miscarriage in July - and has also had to deal with the pressure of leading the series since the opening round. However, he's shown time and time again how resilient he is after losing his US KTM deal and being forced to resurrect his career in Europe.
"I'm here 11 years later from the moto that everyone knows and to sit here and be a champion...don't ever give up on anything you believe in and it'll happen."
At the post-race press conference Zach also revealed that he's staying with his team in 2018, racing a 250 in supercross before switching up to a 450 for the outdoor championship.
