Image: Octopi Media.

After a tough start in the opening moto of the Pro Motocross season, defending 450 champion Zach Osborne recovered well in moto two to take fifth place and 10th overall on the day at Fox Raceway.

While things could have gone better for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider in the opening moto that saw him take 13th, he made progress in the second gate drop of the season, eventually taking fifth place.

Coming off of a well-documented back injury that ended his Monster Energy Supercross season, Osborne showed up at Fox Raceway on Saturday without having completed two full motos in one day since his injury, making his bounce back ride to fifth in moto two quite impressive.

“My day definitely could have been better but I’m still healthy and looking to get more,” Osborne explained. “The first moto was a little disappointing and not what we were looking for but I turned it around and I’m happy to leave in a better spot than I was when I got here.

“This is the first time I’ve done two motos in a day since I started riding again so we didn’t have any expectations and to get a top-five in the second moto was a step in the right direction.”

Following the race, Osborne addressed that his back injury is not flaring up at all, his struggles have come via his arms, revealing that he’s been battling tendonitis and arm pump issues through the off-season.

“The back is fine,” Osborne revealed in a post-race PulpCast. “I’ve been actually struggling with my arms, just getting arm pump a lot. I went in for surgery at one point, to get the [arm pump] surgery done like four weeks ago and they told me I actually had tendonitis.

“So I got that fixed and my arms still weren’t that great. It’s just been kind of battling the whole time. If I had eight good weeks from when I started riding again it would be one thing but, like I said this is the first time I got two motos in, so step in the right direction.”

The series continues this weekend in Colorado at Thunder Valley Raceway, where Osborne will get another opportunity to build momentum as he looks to defend his title.