Both Justin Brayton and Zach Osborne had some success at the latest Triple Crown race so we wanted to type their responses to the format from the Pulpmx Show for you right here.
Osborne
Your first chance at the triple crown formal. What’d you think? Obviously this is a question we’ve asked a lot of guys, but what did you make of it, Zacho?
Zach Osborne: Man, when I watched it on TV I was like, this sucks. So much downtime. There’s so much bull crap commercials. It was not good. I was like, surely they can trim like 30 minutes out of each break and get the ball rolling here. But it was wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. It was so tight getting back to the pits. After the second main when I crashed, my nose was pretty busted up and I actually just stayed up there at the starting line. I didn’t even go back because I was trying to get my nose to stop bleeding. It was just a mess. There was just no time to go back. It was 1,000 miles from the pits to the track. This weekend, I don’t know that it could have been any tighter. As for the racing, I think it’s a cool idea. I quite like the format. I think it’s tough. If I had to make one change it would be just three ten-minute mains. I don’t like the varying distance. I think like the Monster Cup three-race format at the same time is good. Other than that, I thought it was good. It’s a good change. It’s definitely different racing and then watching it on TV, I’ll tell you that.
I’m with you. I’m glad they lengthened that first main by two minutes. It’s not a whole ton, but it’s too important to do eight minutes or six minutes for 250s.
Yeah, six minutes is too little. Eight minutes is better, but I still feel like three tens is just a good distance. It’s not a normal main, but it’s also not a heat race. Definitely six minutes is too short.
As good of shape as you’re in, by the middle of the last main, are you feeling it more so than a normal night of supercross racing?
No, because I’m prepared, but I did feel it yesterday. Sunday I was a little more sore than normal and maybe a little more lethargic. It’s quite a bit more riding. I think normally it’s a six-minute heat and the fifteen-minute main, which is 21. 18 and 12 is 30 minutes. So it’s a considerable amount of riding. That’s another third of riding. It’s a lot more. But I quite enjoyed it. I thought that it would take the fitness element out of it, but it seemed like a lot of guys were kind of beat down by the time the last main came around and maybe that helped me a little bit when I was coming back through the pack.
Anaheim 2 a lot of guys said, I’m feeling it. Even though the track was simple, a lot of guys at Anaheim 2 were like, you really notice it.
This one was not simple by any means. It was busy and it was gnarly. There were ruts everywhere. The one lane, the triple, table onto table thing was big. It was a pretty serious track.
Justin Brayton
Brayton : Winning that first main event, the coolest thing about you winning that main event is I heard you take a little bit away saying it’s just a ten minute main event, but when you get into that groove and you’re racing those laps… I know it’s different on a bike because your heart rate is up more, but it looked like you had a full 20 minutes in you. Knowing that you had that position and that ten minutes so solid, how does that carry over to Daytona and the rest of the season? It seems like to me just from watching that if you get that start, I don’t see why you can’t win.
On Justin struggling a bit later in the mains:
I agree with you for sure. I’m going to be completely truthful. I just think the biggest thing for me is when it’s so late in the night and it’s a regular 20-minute main, the track is so beat down, I’ve got to be honest, man, I don’t ride as good when the tracks are so beat up. It kind of shows in my outdoor skills. When the tracks get so hammered you got to take a lot more chances. To go three, three, three through a rhythm, you’ve just got to take a lot more chances, a lot more risk. You kind of see it with so many guys out right now. The whoops get nasty. It’s down to concrete or plywood in a lot of places.
That first main I felt like you could just really race and you could take tons of different lines and they were all pretty good. You wouldn’t lose a lot of time. The rhythm was kind of sketchy but not so bad to where you felt like you were going to crash. I’ve got to work on that. I’ve got to get my bike set up a little bit better for late in the night and not just practice and heat race. It’s something I’m aware of. Absolutely I think my fitness is there to win in a regular main event. It’s definitely a confidence booster. Going to try and do it.
