Photo by: Hoppenworld
After spending two injury-laden years with the GEICO/Honda squad, Zach Osborne signed with the Rockstar/Husqvarna team for 2015. The 2015 Supercross season started out with a bittersweet second place finish at the Anaheim 1 opener. It was bittersweet because Zach broke his thumb in the first heat race of the season but still somehow managed a second place finish in the main event. With the injury, though, the #16 never got back to the podium in ’15, but he stayed consistent enough to finish the 2015 Western Regional 250SX Championship third in the points.
Heading into the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Zach was again on top of everyone’s list of contenders. The only question mark was the dark cloud that had followed Zach the last two years. Zach’s season started off badly with only one point in the opening moto of the year and a shoulder injury at round two, but incredibly, he showed up at round three for the Thunder Valley National a different rider.
In moto one, he got a decent jump and squeaked around the inside of turn one to find himself inside the top five. After a crash from Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin and a last lap pass on TLD/KTM’s Jessy Nelson, Zach finished the moto in 2nd. In moto two, another top five start was converted into yet another moto podium. This time, Zach finished third, and his 2-3 on the day netted him his best-ever Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship finish: 2nd overall.
After collecting his trophy and popping the champagne, Zach answered a few questions for us about his turnaround at round three. To hear what Zach had to say about his day at Thunder Valley, training with Eli Tomac at elevation and his mental meltdown the Tuesday before Thunder Valley, check out “Inside Story: Zach Osborne” below.
Zach, great ride today. Can you talk about moto one, moto two and your overall feeling today?
I had a good feeling as soon as I showed up. I enjoy this track. I got a podium here in 2013 the last time I raced here. I had good speed straight from the start and even at Press Day.
Was there anything majorly different today about the way you were riding, or was it just bad luck and stuff at the previous rounds? Do you feel like you stepped forward today?
Huge step forward today. We changed the bike pretty much completely this week—a lot stiffer suspension—and it seemed to help. I just felt loose on the bike. It was easy to ride and I enjoyed it today.
Like you said, you landed on the podium the last time you were here. Is there a lot to feeling comfortable at certain tracks? Can you talk about that?
I like to think of myself as a pretty good all-around rider, but definitely when I’m comfortable I’m a lot better. I like most of the outdoor tracks. I like both of the first two tracks, just wasn’t clicking for me. Bad starts. I had a decent moto at the second moto at Hangtown but nothing really to speak of other than that. Then today it was just a huge turnaround for me.
You’ve been training with Eli Tomac up here at altitude in Colorado this year. Are you learning stuff from Eli and are you getting used to the elevation?
Yeah, of course it’s easier. We live at pretty much the same elevation. That make’s it easier. I’m already acclimated so it definitely helped a lot here.
We know from cyclists that it can help to train up at elevation. Do feel the difference when you go down to lower elevation tracks now? I know you’ve only had two tracks to draw from, but can you already tell the difference?
Yeah, for sure you can feel it. As soon as you get off the plane it’s a big difference in breathing and stuff. I feel like when you ride in the humidity and stuff back east, which is where I’ve been for the last six or seven years, it really beats you down. You have to get beat down to go hard. Here in Colorado it’s not quite as hot, but it’s still a big challenge because of the altitude. You just don’t get so flat during the week.
It’s your home track next weekend at Muddy Creek National. Are you looking forward to that?
It’s bittersweet because it’s so close to my house, and everyone wants tickets. There’s so much press. It’s quite the to-do list. I look forward to the atmosphere, all my family being there to watch me race, and stuff. I enjoy the track. I’ve raced there since I was 6 years old. I definitely look forward to that, but some of the hassle I’m not looking forward to. I’m glad to have some good momentum carrying into it. I think it’s going to go really well
How frustrated were you with the way things had been going for you before this weekend? If seemed like every time you would get some momentum something bad would happen the last couple of years. How frustrating was it and how hard was it to just keep digging?
It was tough. I had a little meltdown on like Tuesday this week because last weekend was so bad. I couldn’t ride on Tuesday. My tricep hurt really bad because I messed up my shoulder last weekend. It wasn’t that bad, but it was pretty bad.
What do you mean when you say meltdown?
I was just in a place where I felt like this whole year has been like one weird event after the next, after the next, after the next. I’m 25. I want to do well. I get paid a lot of money to do what I do for a great team, and I don’t want to let anybody down ever. And I was letting people down. So I was just really bummed out and my wife kind of talked me out of it. I had a better day on Wednesday, and then press day was good. I had a good feeling. We went and tried some bow and arrow yesterday just to do something different and it worked out
Did you say to yourself, “I’ll just podium in a few days”?
I said I was going to when I got here, but did I actually really believe myself? I’m not so sure.
[laughs] Thanks for talking to us and congrats on the second overall today.
Thank you.
