His day started with a crash, but it ended with a championship. Zach Osborne recovered from a first-turn pileup in Moto 1 to win the second moto at Budds Creek and clinch the 250 Class championship. The title, which is the first outdoor title of Osborne’s career, comes with one round remaining in the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season and comes at the same track where he won the first race of his career one year ago.
Osborne wasn’t the only one with a career first though — Adam Cianciarulo became a first-time winner, winning Moto 1 and the overall. The victory comes more than four years after he made his pro debut at Budds Creek.
Read on for a recap of what happened in each moto.
Budds Creek 250 Moto 1
Zach Osborne’s quest to lock up his first 250MX championship got off to a bad start when he was collected in a first-turn pileup at the start of Moto 1. After remounting, he would be forced to spend the rest of the moto salvaging positions and points.
Meanwhile, Adam Cianciarulo grabbed the holeshot, with Jeremy Martin and RJ Hampshire emerging in second and third, respectively.
The last couple weeks have brought some heartbreaking moments for Cianciarulo, who repeatedly found himself on the cusp of a win, only to lose it in brutal fashion. This time around, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider would not be denied. He kept Martin at bay and eventually extended his lead to a comfortable margin. Unpressured late in the race, Cianciarulo won by six seconds to earn the first moto victory of his 250 Class career.
Martin was able to hold off his GEICO Honda teammate, Hampshire, to secure second place.
As for Osborne, he turned in a respectable result given his first-lap incident. He worked his way up to eighth by the end of the race, meaning that he lost just nine points to Martin. With a 54-point lead, Osborne remains in position to clinch the 250MX title in the second moto as long as he can keep the points lead over 50.
Joey Savatgy did not line up for Moto 1 after a rough crash in practice earlier in the day.
Results
1. Adam Cianciarulo
2. Jeremy Martin
3. RJ Hampshire
4. Shane McElrath
5. Aaron Plessinger
6. Kyle Cunningham
7. Colt Nichols
8. Zach Osborne
9. Chase Sexton
10. Sean Cantrell
11. Mitchell Harrison
12. Luke Renzland
13. Dylan Wright
14. Justin Cooper
15. Dylan Ferrandis
16. Cody Williams
17. Lorenzo Locurcio
18. Joey Crown
19. Jayce Pennington
20. Steven Clarke
Budds Creek 250 Moto 2
It was a race between Martin and McElrath to the holeshot line. Although Martin technically got the holeshot, McElrath emerged with the lead. Behind those two was Osborne. At the other end of the spectrum was Chase Sexton, who tried to get a jump on the gate drop and ended up stuck.
Osborne engaged Martin in a battle for second and quickly took the position away, which put him in position to clinch the title if he remained ahead of Martin.
Behind the lead trio was Cianciarulo, who was in contention — along with McElrath — for the overall victory.
About twelve minutes into the race, Osborne was all over the rear fender of McElrath and looked like he was about to take the lead away, but McElrath held him off initially. A few laps later, a series of incidents unfolded that would shake things up: First, Martin went down and lost several spots; then, Osborne took the lead from McElrath.
As a result, there were two things that happened: Osborne virtually assured that he would lock up the title, and Cianciarulo moved into position for the overall win.
With under three minutes to go, Cianciarulo moved up to second by passing McElrath. His 2-1 finishes secured him the overall win, with Osborne (8-1) second and McElrath (4-3) third.
But the biggest prize of all went to Osborne, who won the moto and won the 250 Class championship.
Results
1. Zach Osborne
2. Adam Cianciarulo
3. Shane McElrath
4. Aaron Plessinger
5. Colt Nichols
6. Jeremy Martin
7. RJ Hampshire
8. Justin Cooper
9. Chase Sexton
10. Mitchell Harrison
11. Luke Renzland
12. Kyle Cunningham
13. Dylan Wright
14. Steven Clarke
15. Lorenzo Locurcio
16. Nick Gaines
17. Gustavo Souza
18. Sean Cantrell
19. Joey Crown
20. Austin Root
Budds Creek 250 Class Overall Results
1. Adam Cianciarulo (1-2)
2. Zach Osborne (8-1)
3. Shane McElrath (4-3)
4. Jeremy Martin (2-6)
5. Aaron Plessinger (5-4)
6. RJ Hampshire (3-7)
7. Colt Nichols (7-5)
8. Chase Sexton (9-9)
9. Kyle Cunningham (6-12)
10. Mitchell Harrison (11-10)
11. Justin Cooper (14-8)
12. Luke Renzland (12-11)
13. Dylan Wright (13-13)
14. Sean Cantrell (10-18)
15. Lorenzo Locurcio (17-15)
16. Steven Clarke (20-14)
17. Dylan Ferrandis (15-40)
18. Nick Gaines (40-16)
19. Joey Crown (18-19)
20. Cody Williams (16-26)
250 MOTO 1: RACE RECAP
250 MOTO 1: OSBORNE GOES DOWN IN FIRST TURN, CIANCIARULO GETS HOLESHOT
250 MOTO 1: CIANCIARULO TALKS AFTER FIRST WIN
250 MOTO 2: RACE RECAP
250 MOTO 2: OSBORNE TAKES LEAD, MARTIN GOES DOWN