Osborne goes 1-1 for 250 overall at Hangtown!
By TMX Archives on 21st May 17
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team kicked off the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at the Hangtown Motocross Classic with Zach Osborne claiming the first victory of the season.
Zach Osborne, the fastest 250 qualifier of the day, was third at the start of the first 250 moto. He put on a quick charge and made an inside pass for second at the start of the second lap. He started gaining ground on the leader and continued to put in work as he posted the fastest lap on the track aboard his Husqvarna FC 250.
He came from eight bike lengths back to charge into the lead right at the halfway point and pulled a small gap. He held strong to take the first win of the season. He pulled the holeshot in the second moto and immediately started battling. He swapped back and forth in the top three, but never stopped battling.
He dropped the hammer to overtake the lead again and pull away. He was over three seconds ahead by the end of the second lap, continued to stretch the gap, and was leading by over 10 seconds with 10 minutes to go. He held strong to claim both the race win and the overall.
"This was the perfect day to start the season,” said Osborne. "It feels really good to carry my momentum from Supercross and get the outdoors started on the right foot. It feels awesome to be fastest in both practice sessions then go out and win both motos. It's a huge way to start the season - so I'm happy.”
Dean Wilson started mid-pack in the first 450 moto but went down shortly thereafter. He remounted and made his way to 17th by the start of the fourth lap. He then put on an impressive charge as he pushed all the way up to 13th with five minutes to go. Putting on a blistering pace, he made three more passes to finish 10th. He started around the top-10 in the second moto and was sixth by the end of the first lap.
Riding well early on, he forged ahead and easily made it into the top-five before setting his sights on the front of the pack. Fourth by lap four, he continued to battle as he swapped between fourth and fifth with Tomac, fell back to fifth, then charged ahead to make the pass for fourth around the halfway mark. He stayed strong, put on an incredible ride, and finished fourth. The 10-4 finish gave him fourth overall on the day.
"I'd say it was a pretty good first round,” said Wilson. "I crashed into Jason on the first moto, which was unfortunate. I caught back up to 10th and put a lot of effort into that one. I put absolutely everything I had into the second moto and went from 11th to 4th. I'm really happy and it's pretty awesome to be back up there battling.”
Jason Anderson started mid-pack in the first 450 moto, but an early-race crash left him unable to finish the race due to an eye injury. After seeking medical treatment, he lined up for the second moto ready to race.
He got a decent start and started charging ahead, finding his way to 12th by the end of the first lap. Nursing a stitched up eye, he fell back to 14th after crashing but pushed through the pain to put on an amazing ride and charge up to sixth where he finished. After his DNF in the first moto and a sixth in the second moto, he ended the day 13th overall.
"My day started out great in practice and I was looking forward to a great race,” said Anderson. "I was off to a good start in the first moto but unfortunately went down and got hit with a rock, which forced me out of the race and then I had to get stitches. I rode awesome in the second moto, though. I crashed in the beginning but then came all the way back to sixth so I'm happy.”
