KTM Amateur rider Zach Osborne was recently invited to compete in the FIM Junior World Championships held in Riga, Latvia and swept the international event taking first place in both motos to come home a champion. The fourteen year old was only one of two invited American riders to contest the inaugural event held July 17-18th.
Team manager and KTM Vice President Selvaraj Narayana said, "The U.S. has such a vast history in motocross, and with Zach's overall win we were able to show the world that we are still the leaders in the sport. Our Champion (Zach) has such fierce determination, it was amazing to watch him first try to adapt to the European environment in 2 days, communicating to other international riders, and exchanging pleasantries only to become friends by the end."
Zach "Li'l Oz" Osborne added, "It was fun being overseas, and a little different from what I was expecting. All the riders were great, and it seemed like everyone was really excited to be there and it was pretty easy to talk with them."
After the inspection on Saturday, the young riders took to the Southwick-like track for practice where Zach qualified for the first pole position. Later that night everyone was honored by the FIM federation in a welcoming ceremony. They were again introduced Sunday in a lavish ceremony and then the racing began. In the first moto Zach was third in the start but one lap later he was dominating the race. He impressed the crowd with a 10 second lead over second place and had the fastest timed lap. In moto 2 he had a perfect start and took an early lead to again conquer the race with another first place finish to take home the Championship.
Zach later stated that, "Last year my biggest achievement was when I placed third in the FIM Junior World Cup. Taking the overall in this Junior World Championship is way more exciting and I am so thankful that I had this opportunity. I'd really like to thank my mom and dad, Al Albiker, Sel (Narayana) and KTM for all their support."
Congratulations Zach on your first FIM Junior World Championship title! You worked hard for it.