Words by: Dan Lamb – Recorded interview by: Chase Yocom

After winning his first ever Supercross 250SX main event and locking down his first ever 250SX Championship in the East earlier this year, Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne was definitely one of the favorites for the 250MX Championship outdoors. But what he has done during the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship has far surpassed everyone’s expectations, and he is making it look easy.

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The #16 secured the red plate with the first 1-1 of his career during the opener at Hangtown, and he has kept a firm grip on it ever since. After winning the first two overalls of the outdoor season, Zach finished off the podium at Thunder Valley, but since then, he has sprayed champagne at every round. In the first eight rounds, he has amassed seven moto wins, seven overall podium finishes and four overall wins, translating to a 45-point lead in the title race.

This last weekend at the Spring Creek National, Zach lost all his coolant in moto one due to a bike issue and somehow nursed his factor Husqvarna to the line to salvage eighth place points. Just like he has done all year, Osborne wasted no time in making up those points by coming out in moto two and going wire-to-wire for the win. With the 8-1 on the day, Zach took what could have been a disastrous day and instead landed on the podium with a third overall—only losing two points to his closest competition.

The 2017 250MX title goes through Zach Osborne. Photo by: Chase Yocom

After his Spring Creek performance, Chase Yocom caught up with Zach to talk about his day, the bike issues, his training and his secure future. Zach also tells Chase specifics about his new two-year deal with Husky that will follow him into the 450 class in ’19.

Zach, 8-1 today for third overall. Obviously the first moto was a bummer with the bike malfunction, but you came back strong in the second moto and took the win.

Yeah, for sure. I’m just happy I took some points from that first moto. We had a little issue with the valve cover gasket which is super random, and it’s something I’ve never seen happen before. It is what it is. We’ll just keep plugging away. It was definitely nice to take that second moto win even after a little fall over.

 

In that first moto, you had the gasket problem and had to back it down a little to make it through. Did cruising through the second half of moto one help you out with a little extra energy for moto 2?

Maybe? It was mentally stressful. It was just a real sketchy situation.

 

What was going through your mind when you realized you had the bike issue? Were you just like, “I got to try to get this bike to the finish”?

As soon as it blew out, it was spitting oil on the pipe. I was afraid it might catch on fire or I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I actually thought it was the radiator hose at first. I was trying to be really easy on it and trying to get it to the finish line.

 

That has to play a huge factor in the Championship; being able to bring it home. Eighth place is definitely better than a DNF.

For sure, I just wanted to get it to the end there and score some points.

Zach laying the traction down in Millville. Photo by: Chase Yocom

Let’s talk about the track. Obviously a lot of rain yesterday made for some sloppy conditions during the practices, and then it got a lot hotter out throughout the day. How did the track change throughout the day, and how did you like the track?

I thought it was a great race track. It’s what it needs to be every year. I feel like this place is kind of hard some times. The track in the second moto was unreal. I knew when we went out in practice and the track was really, really wet—I knew it was going to be a good race track.

 

It was probably one of the hottest races of the year so far, very humid today. How did that play a factor in your racing today?

Yeah, it’s kind of the same conditions as home, though. My conditioning is good, and it’s not something I worry about. I kind of hope that it’s hot and nasty. I feel really good about it.

 

Is that something that you guys check after the races with blood tests and all that stuff to check your levels and monitor as you guys go into the next week?

No, not really. It’s kind of the every day normal for us. It’s not really a huge deal. I’m not super tired. I feel pretty good, so it’s not a big deal.

 

Just another day at the office, right? (laughs)

Our Tuesdays are super, super hard. Saturday is better for me than Tuesday.

 

Everybody has talked about you training with Aldon [Baker] and how much training with him has helped you out, but how’s the training been being in Florida? You’re obviously now acclimated a lot more to conditions like the humidity. Did the entire move to Florida play a factor in your conditioning this year?

Yeah, the whole thing was to go there, get better and win more. That’s pretty much what I’ve done, and it’s paid off in huge dividends. We’ve developed a really good, tight-knit relationship, and I think we’ve both enjoyed working with each other. It’s been a really good move.

Zach’s dominance in 2017 has really shown the value of Aldon Baker’s program in Florida. Photo by: Chase Yocom

Then probably for the rest of your career that will be where you will probably want to stay?

Yeah, at this point that would be the plan.

 

Talking about next year as we get close to the end of the nationals, is there anything you can fill us in on for next year?

Yeah, I’m going to be staying at Husky [Rockstar Energy / Factory Husqvarna] for at least the next two years. I will be riding the 250 for Supercross and the 450 outdoors [for 2018] and then the 450 full time in 2019.

 

Have you ridden the 450 at all during the week? Is racing that something you’re looking forward to?

I ride the 450 quite a bit. Most of the time on Monday or Monday and Tuesday. I try to have at least one day on the 250 before we go racing, but I think it’s really helped me a lot this season. I enjoy riding it, so I feel like next year—it will obviously be a learning year—is going to be really good.

 

How crazy is it, looking back, that at one point in your career you couldn’t get a ride, and now, since you came back from the GP’s, you had a ride with GEICO and now you’re with Husqvarna and going to the 450 class on a factory bike? How much of a relief is it that you have someone behind you that is now also willing to back you into that next big step of your career?

It’s big! They’ve been behind me since I got to the team. We had a rough patch last year with some bike problems, but other than that, it’s been a really good relationship and I would like to continue it through the rest of my career. Obviously, I have off-road aspirations after motocross, and I would love to stay on Husky into that.

16 motos down, 8 to go on his first ever AMA MX national championship. Photo by: Chase Yocom

It seems like a super relaxed team as well. How much does that play a factor too? It seems like a much more relaxed atmosphere than other factory teams, and Bobby Hewitt [Team Owner] runs a great program.

For me, that’s huge, just to be comfortable in my surroundings and enjoy going to the races every weekend. That’s what I do. We all have fun. We’re all pulling for the same goal. I think it pays off.

 

Thanks for the time, Zach. Congratulations on the moto two win and hanging onto that red plate.

Thank you.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.