2017 Atlanta 250SX Results: Georgia 250 Supercross Recap
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne claimed his first career victory Saturday at the second round of the Monster Energy Supercross 250 East Region Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Osborne came around the first turn in third place behind the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM teammates of Alex Martin and Jordon Smith. Osborne passed Martin at the beginning of lap three and was able to get around Smith on lap five to take the lead. He opened up a gap on the rest of the field and rode flawlessly to take the win and inherit the points lead heading into Toronto next weekend.
Joining him on the Atlanta 250SX podium were Martin and Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols.
“I can’t explain [the feeling]. It hits home. I’ve worked so hard for this and there are hundreds of people that helped get me to this point,” said Osborne, who finished third last weekend at Minneapolis 250SX. “Tonight was my night. I felt like I missed out on one [a win] last weekend. After I got a good start I felt like it was my turn to just get in there and make it happen. I got into the lead about halfway and it was easy from there.”
KTM 250 SX-F pilot Martin put himself in a great position off the start coming around the first corner in second. He was passed by Osborne, but was then able to get around his teammate Smith for second. Smith attempted to pass Martin back on lap 15, but the two came together with Smith getting the short end of the stick being pushed off the track and crashing. Martin held second place to the checkered flag and sits in ninth place in the championship standings after his 22nd place finish last weekend in Minneapolis.
Yamaha’s Nichols came around the first turn in sixth and worked his way up to fourth by lap 15 and he was able to move into third when Smith crashed that same lap. Nichols’ third place finish marks his second podium finish of his career.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy came into the night as the series points leader after winning the Main Event last weekend in Minneapolis. Savatgy suffered from a 11th place start and passed seven riders to finish the night in fourth place. Savatgy surrendered the points lead to Osborne and sits second in the championship standings just two points down from Osborne.
Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Jordon Smith grabbed the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award for the second week in a row aboard his KTM 250SX-F Factory Edition. He was passed by Osborne on lap five and Martin on lap ten after he bobbled in the whoops. Smith’s crash on lap 15 put him down to fifth. He maintained that position to the checkered flag to finish fifth and round out the top five.
Traders Racing Yamaha’s Luke Renzland, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo, TiLube Honda’s Fredrik Noren, AutoTrader/JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Kyle Peters, and GEICO Honda’s RJ Hampshire rounded out the top ten, respectively.
The GEICO Honda team had a rough outing in Atlanta as two of their three riders crashed out before the Main Event got underway. 50SX rookie Chase Sexton suffered a broken femur in practice while veteran Christian Craig crashed in the whoops during his heat race and sustained a concussion. Neither of them raced the Main Event and the timeline for their returns have not been determined at this time.
2017 Atlanta 250SX Results:
- Zach Osborne – Husqvarna FC250
- Alex Martin – KTM 250SX-F
- Colt Nichols – Yamaha YZ250F
- Joey Savatgy – Kawasaki KX250F
- Jordon Smith – KTM 250SX-F
- Luke Renzland – Yamaha YZ250F
- Adam Cianciarulo – Kawasaki KX250F
- Fredrik Noren – Honda CRF250R
- Kyle Peters – Suzuki RM-Z250
- RJ Hampshire – Honda CRF250R
- Mitchell Harrison – Yamaha YZ250F
- Kyle Cunningham – Yamaha YZ250F
- Cameron Mcadoo – Honda CRF250R
- Gannon Audette – Kawasaki KX250F
- Lorenzo Locurcio – Yamaha YZ250F
- Cole Thompson – KTM 250SX-F
- Jesse Wentland – Honda CRF250R
- Dylan Ferrandis – Yamaha YZ250F
- Dakota Alix – KTM 250SX-F
- Henry Miller – Yamaha YZ250F
- Paul Coates – Yamaha YZ250F
- Tony Archer – Kawasaki KX250F
2017 250SX East Regional Point Standings:
- Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna – 45
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Kawasaki – 43
- Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., KTM – 38
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 31
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 30
- RJ Hampshire, Brooksville, Fla., Honda – 29
- Luke Renzland, Hewitt, N.J., Yamaha – 28
- Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C., Suzuki – 24
- Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., KTM – 23
- Fredrik Noren, West Farmington, Ohio, Honda – 21
