American Thomas Covington is to quite racing the world championship at the end of the season to replace Zach Osborne in the factory Husqvarna 250 team in the US Supercross and outdoors next season.

Covington, who won the MX2 qualifying race at St. Jean d’Angely, said: “I’m really motivated in the second half of the season as I’m going back to the States to race Supercross and Motocross for Husqvarna next year.”

Covington never contested US racing as a professional, preferring to come to Europe and contest the GPs – much like Osborne himself. First Covington rode for Kawasaki, then Husqvarna.

Next season Osborne moves up to the 450 class for Husky, as US rules only allow champions to defend their titles once. He took the US 250 Supercross crown in 2017 and 2018, and the 2017 outdoor title too. He’s currently out for the season with an injury.