Osborne Reaches 22nd Year with MX of Nations Outing
Zach Osborne turned 21 years old on Saturday at the 64th Motocross of Nations and used the speed and skills that secured 4th position in the 2010 FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship to help Puerto Rico to 10th place at the biggest and most prestigious off-road racing event of the calendar.
The American ran the Puerto Rican flag for the second time in his career and used the power of his Yamaha YZ250F machine to skip across the many jumps and through the rutted corners of the Thunder Valley circuit near Denver to finish 5th overall in the MX2 class, watched by 32,000 spectators. Melting temperatures and the thin air of the venue 1600m above sea level created demanding racing conditions as the three best riders from almost thirty countries shared and disputed track space.
Osborne, supported by fellow American Kyle Regal and MX1 representative Christian Ruiz, enjoyed noisy vocal support from the boisterous partisan crowd that was interspersed by large contingents of fans from Europe. Unfortunately he lost the front wheel of his Cosworth Yamaha on the first turn of the first race and had to battle from the rear of the 40-rider pack to reach 15th place. A run to 14th in the second 30 minute and 2 lap moto led to his final ranking.
After relishing the experience of Thunder Valley, Osborne heads back to the UK immediately to try and confirm his first major title with the final round of eight in the Maxxis British Championship at Hawkstone Park next weekend. The Virginian has been dominant in the domestic UK series and holds a 47 point lead with just 75 up for grabs in Shropshire.
"It was a decent weekend," he evaluated. "I made some silly mistakes; early in the first moto and then another when I was eleventh or twelfth in the second. The track was a hundred times better on Sunday compared to Saturday but I think it was still too smooth. It was not the best showing today but I still have a lot to think about with the British Championship decider coming up next weekend. I’ll go back to Europe and then head home for a few weeks. It was a good experience being here and it was my favourite event of the year so far."
"I couldn’t have asked for a better gift for my 21st birthday than to ride for a team at the Motocross of Nations," he added. "I really appreciate the opportunity that Puerto Rico gave me and can’t thank everyone enough."
