Covington on another terrible day, Osborne on a podium at Thunder Valley
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team produced two career-best finishes on Saturday with double podium finishes from Zach Osborne and Michael Mosiman at Round 3 of the 2019 AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Thunder Valley Motocross Park. Osborne carried 2-4 finishes for third overall in the 450MX class, while Mosiman went 4-3 for third in the 250MX class, giving the team a banner day in Lakewood, Colorado.
The day began with sunshine and moderate temperatures but things soon took a turn as rainfall came down as the first set of motos got underway. Changing track conditions threw a curveball in the racing but the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team kept their heads down and prevailed through.
450MX
Osborne started off with a bang, securing the third-place position in the day’s overall qualifying. In Moto 1, he shot off the line aboard his FC 450 to claim the holeshot and early lead. He got passed on the opening lap but he held strong in the second-place position for the remainder of the race to claim a career-best moto finish of second. In Moto 2, Osborne got off to a seventh-place start where he remained steady for the first few laps. He climbed his way up to fourth by the halfway point and from there, he upheld the position to finish fourth in the moto and third overall for the day. After three rounds, Osborne made a big jump to third overall in the early 450MX Championship Standings.
“It was a pretty solid day,”Osborne said.“To get third in qualifying and then 2-4 in the motos for third overall, I feel pretty good about it. I feel like I didn’t ride to my peak today but I’m going to work on finding a little bit more speed and continuing to move forward from here.”
Anderson, the fourth-place qualifier, began in tenth on the opening lap of Moto 1 and he quickly worked his way up to eighth early on. He battled in eighth for the first half of the race before making a big charge late in the race. With three laps to go, Anderson made the move into fourth where he finished strong in Moto 1. In the second moto, Anderson began in the sixth spot and he battled just outside the top-five for a majority of the race. With four laps to go, he made a last-minute charge to ultimately claim fifth in the moto and fourth overall for the day.
“I’m happy to be leaving Colorado with 4-5 finishes, that’s the most points I’ve ever scored here,”Anderson said.“I’ll move on and try to be better for the next one at High Point.”
250MX
Team rider Michael Mosiman qualified fourth in the 250MX class, setting a positive tone for the day. He got off to a tenth-place start in Moto 1, where he worked his way into the top-five early on. He moved into fourth on lap seven and continued to set his sights on going after a podium finish as the rain came pouring down. With about six minutes until the two-lap board came out, race officials made the decision to end the race with a red flag due to lightening. As a result, Mosiman ended up fourth after 11 laps. In Moto 2, he started off in sixth and he bounced around just outside the top-five for the first few laps. Just after the halfway point, he began his climb toward the front where he found himself in third with five laps to go. He rode strong through the final laps to claim his first-career podium finish with third in the moto and third overall.
“I like this track and I knew I liked it, so I had a good feeling about this weekend,”Mosiman said.“I qualified fourth and that’s where I started to believe I can run with those guys. It was super cool to bring it home for my first-ever podium.”
His teammate, Thomas Covington, had a rough start to the day as he rounded the opening lap in last place after going off the track early on. He fought his way up to ultimately finish 30th in the first moto. In Moto 2, Covington did his best to squeeze in a good start after being forced to line up on the very outside. He worked his way into 35th on the opening lap and made a good charge to ultimately finish 27th in the moto and 16th overall.
“We had a tough weekend out here,”Covington said.“I made a lot of mistakes. I went off the track in the first moto and then I was starting all the way on the outside and had a hard time coming back. I’m really just looking forward to resting up so I can get ready for the next weekend.”
Bad luck struck down for team rider Jordan Bailey, who wasn’t able to score any points at Round 3 due to a bike issue that was out of his control.
