Zach Osborne | Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna | Second in 250SX
I felt good all day and I was feeling good on the bike. Things were going well, and then in the heat race I had an unfortunate run-in with another rider [Tyler Bowers] and fractured my thumb. I gutted out the rest of the night. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to line up for the LCQ, but I ended up winning it. Then I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for the main, and I got second in the main. It’s an awesome feeling to salvage what I did.
Talk about that crash in the heat. You and Bowers were going back and forth a little bit.
I felt like the other two were pretty clean. The other one maybe I got in his boot buckles a little bit but his was pretty blatant. We talked it out on the podium and he knew it was across the line. It is what it is, and now I’m carrying an injury that I have to deal with. It’s unfortunate. I shouldn’t have left the door open. I thought I had it closed as tight as I could, but obviously I left a little too much room.
What’s the plan with the thumb for the rest of the season?
I’m going to get it checked out more, but I’ll be there next weekend. I’m 3 points out of the lead, I have to race. – Aaron Hansel
Tyler Bowers | Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki | Third in 250SX
Welcome back to supercross. Last time we saw you, you were on the top of the podium. Tonight you’re on the third step, which I guess makes you a little bitter.
Yeah, a little bit bitter.
Two races, two podiums—you suck!
Actually three races—one of them I didn’t complete. But it was a good night. Myself and the team, we mesh well, clearly. We worked really hard for this. All the testing came to this point. That was kind of the easy part, so to speak. The training kind of goes downhill and not as much testing, so forth like that. Everything tones down a bit; we just race on the weekends. Coming here this weekend, my goal was to podium for sure and shoot for a win if it opens up. It didn’t open up for me. I got a bad start and kind of had to come through the pack. I got up in third and I was pumped on that. Tried to ride smart from there. Actually caught second and first pretty well. But like I said, third is great. It’s the beginning of the season. I’m not laying on the ground. I finished the main; I’m not eighth or ninth place. I’m still in the championship hunt. It’s early.
It’s super cliche to say you can’t win the title the first race but can lose it, but it’s true.
You’re exactly right. There’s many guys that went down and had bad finishes that should have been in the front. Cooper [Webb] got seventh. I expected big things out of him. I didn’t expect Jessy Nelson. I expected Osborne to be up there too, but you never know with both those guys. Everybody did good. Like you said, it’s cliche to say you can lose it at the first round, but that’s usually what happens. It’s a long series and I’m here for the whole championship, and I’m here to pull off some wins.
I don’t think of you as a heater guy, being able to throw down a lap and be the fastest guy in a timed practice situation. I think you’re more of a racer guy. I was pretty surprised at your practice times, you and Malcolm Stewart going at it.
The second timed qualifying we had made some changes. I don’t know why we made changes. The bike was working great the first timed qualifying. I came back and guys were like, "I think we can do this." I was like, "Yeah, let’s try it." I was super confident. So we tried it and the second timed practice I felt horrible. But the first one was going good for me. Not a lot of people think I can throw down a heater. That’s because I’m a bigger guy, and I think watching me ride, I look slow. I don’t really look like I’m going that fast. Watching me on video I’m like, "I’m not going that fast." But then they’ll overlap the video with someone else and I’m like way faster. I don’t really ride that ragged edge, which is why I can do that speed for fifteen laps as well.
Did you lose a little bit of weight from a couple years ago?
Yeah, a lot of weight. This summer I was like 207. I’m actually down to 188 right now.
You look skinnier. When we were talking about Bowers coming into the season we kept asking, is he too big?
I’m still kind of too big, but coming into the season I had plenty of time to prepare this time. Before, Mitch called me and I was sitting on the couch drinking beer. I was like, "Oh, crap, I got to put this thing down." I’m working with Gareth Swanepoel this year and I’m super happy with the training. I’m losing a lot of weight, but I’m feeling great. I’ve lost this much weight before, but I felt horrible. Working with Gareth I still feel strong, and I still feel great on the bike. I feel lighter. All in all I’m just on it this year.
Can we talk about the pass on Zach Osborne?
It was mean. It wasn’t very nice. It was a downright aggressive pass and I meant to do it. I’m not going to lie. The guy hit me two times before that and I’m not anybody’s punk anymore. I let [Blake] Wharton do it to me two years ago, and from the same team. Then I was filling in and I wasn’t trying to get into the middle of anybody’s championship points or anything like that. Now I don’t care. It’s me, I’m here to race, I’m here to win. I’m here to win a championship. Nobody’s going to push me around. I made a statement in the main event and nobody wanted to get near me. – Steve Matthes
Justin Hill | Red Bull KTM | Fourth in 250SX
My night went okay. I should look at the bright side because a lot of people had bad nights. I felt off and I put a lot of pressure on myself to go out and win. Should have gone out there and executed better, but it is what it is. I definitely was riding tight and wasn’t feeling like myself and kind of went into damage control. I really thought I had a podium locked up, and that almost made things worse. I got into a podium spot and just thought about that and tried to ride out a podium. I lacked a little bit of everything and wasn’t myself, but it’s out of the way and we’ll go back to the drawing board. I don’t think we have to do a whole lot, just fine-tune what we’ve been doing and execute.
You won your heat. How did you feel in that race?
I was tight there too. Ultimately it was just my night; it was one of those days. It sucks because you don’t want that to happen on a race day; you want that to happen on a Tuesday or something. But to come away in the top five, that’s not too bad and we’ve got a lot of races to go. I can’t be too bummed on it. I definitely saw some worse nights happen, that’s for sure. I know I have my work cut out for me on execution. The heat win was cool, but that’s not points. That’s just fun, cameras, whips, and gate pick. We need to be ready for that main. But if I get fourth on a bad day, then a good day should be pretty bright for me. Hopefully we’ll have a track with a little more separation next week.
The dirt in Phoenix can be a little sketchy.
Yeah, but they normally build it up to where you don’t have to use the dirt as much. They understand that they have hard dirt there that gets pretty slick and they normally build up some good berms and make some good rhythms that you can sink your teeth into even when it’s slick. – Aaron Hansel
Alex Martin | CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha | Eighth in 250SX
I started the day off pretty solid with fourth fastest in the first qualifier, and I was pretty happy with that. I’ve put a lot of work in and so has the team, Yamaha, and Enzo Suspension. We have a good package this year. It started off great with a holeshot in the heat race, but my forks blew out. We’re running air forks this year, and it was just a weird incident. They were like four or five inches lower than they should have been. Luckily I was able to ride and I qualified. In the main I had a decent start but got pushed wide. I should have passed people faster. I had a little battle with Josh Hansen—I probably passed him four times. He’s a smart rider and he’d stuff me back. But it was a good first race and a good learning experience with the team and the bike. I felt comfortable, and I just need to ride smarter and put myself in a better position at the beginning of the race. There were few places to pass, and you had to make sure you were on the guy in that area. Otherwise it wasn’t happening. You couldn’t make mistakes either; a lot of times I’d pass a guy and make a mistake and he’d get me right back.
What was it like riding with blown-out forks?
I thought I had the holeshot device on the entire race, and that it wasn’t coming unlocked. It cornered phenomenal, but everywhere else it was sketchy.
Happy with the end result?
Not happy, but it could be worse. – Aaron Hansel
Josh Hansen | Team 100/MotoSport.com | Ninth in 250SX
It started out rough. I had some bike problems and missed some practice time during the day. The first heat was cool; I made some mistakes and got second. It was cool to be back into it. Then in the main event I got a good start, but on the second lap my arms just blew up. I was my own enemy after that. I was just blocking and being an idiot out there; I was just another dude. I deserve the finish that I got. I just need to work hard and make stuff happen next week. But it’s cool being back and seeing all the positive people behind me.
What was it like racing a main event again for the first time in a while?
There were definitely some butterflies! I was my own worst enemy for sure. It’s been a long time—St. Louis in 2012 was the last time I was in a main event. It’s all good, I have everything to look forward to. No excuses. It’s time to step up, these little kids are fast!
You went off the track at one point during the main. What happened?
Shane McElrath kind of came in a little bit harder than me and just bumped me a little bit. I was at a point where I could barely hang on and I went right off the track and hit the Tuff Block and fell over. It’s all racing, I would have done the same thing. It’s cool, and when you got someone like me who’s in the way it’s something you have to do. We’re out here racing and it’s all good. – Aaron Hansel