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ZACH OSBORNE
250 SX / 1ST
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Zach Osborne has fully emerged here in 2017. The Rockstar Husqvarna 250 rider
got the monkey off his back by winning his first race of his career at Atlanta a few weeks ago. That seemed to instill a big amount of confidence into him and now he has emerged as the title favorite. Osborne followed that up with another commanding performance in Toronto. He has begun to ride with a certain amount of superiority and aggression that has yet to be matched by title rival Joey Savatgy. But after struggling with mistakes in Daytona last weekend, Osborne was looking to reinsert himself on the top step of the podium in Indianapolis.
Osborne logged some solid lap times in qualifying practice coming away with the third quickest time. However, Savatgy set the pace with a lap time nearly one and a half seconds faster so he would have to make the proper adjustments to contend in the night show.
The night started off well for the Husqvarna rider as he rocketed out to a second-place start. Savatgy was right in tow potentially setting up a preview for the main but he would go down in the whoops on lap two leaving Osborne to go after race leader Mitchell Har- rison with no distractions. Harrison rode well but not well enough as Osborne tracked him down a few laps in and made a swift move. From there it was smooth sailings to the win and main event transfer for Osborne.
When the gate dropped in the main, the stage was set for a classic championship battle. Savatgy ripped the holeshot with Osborne right in tow. Osborne proceeded to lock in behind the Monster Kawasaki rider and pressure him. He shadowed Savatgy throughout the first half of the race even showing him a wheel on a few occasions. Then finally after a great drive through the whoops, Osborne drove it in deep in the corner to make the aggressive pass for the lead. He would take the lead all the way to the checkered flag despite Savatgy staying right on his rear wheel to the end. It was another winning per- formance from Osborne as he has now won three of the last four races. He extended his points lead to nine and he will look for win number four next weekend in the motor city.
32 GRITMOTO • MARCH 19, 2017