Image: Simon Cudby.

A pair of champions were crowned at the penultimate round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday as both the 450 Class and 250 Class titles were decided one round early at the GEICO Motorcycle Budds Creek National.

In the 450 Class, RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen continued his dominant ways, sweeping the motos yet again to claim his eighth overall victory of the season and clinch his second title in three seasons.

In the 250 Class, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne broke through for the first win of his career as Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb secured his first national title following a fifth-place finish.

Roczen was again untouchable as he marched to a 1-1 scorecard, beating Justin Barcia (Autotrader/Monster Energy/Yamaha) and Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) for the overall.

As a result, Roczen becomes the 12th different rider in history to win multiple titles and remains the only German rider to ever hoist the Edison Dye Cup.

He’s also the fourth rider in Pro Motocross history to win titles for with two different manufacturers. It is the first title for RCH Racing, becoming the first privately-owned effort to win a 450 Class title.

“The Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing machine has been working great all year,” Roczen said. “There are so many people I have to thank – my team, my family, my girlfriend and my trainer. We finally made it.”

For Osborne it was a memorable weekend in capturing his first-ever round win via 4-1 finishes, topping Alex Martin (Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha) and Austin Forkner (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki). Fifth was enough for Webb to claim the title.

“I don’t know what to say,” Webb beamed. “I honestly didn’t think I would be here at the start of the season with this [wrist] injury and everything like that, so to be able to do this in unreal, especially in front of my home fans and the home crowd.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t the day we wanted, but we made it happen. That’s what champions are made of. You get knocked down and get right back up – we showed them how to do it.”

Of the Australians in the field this weekend, Hayden Mellross (Yamaha) rode to 450 Class 16-13 finishes for 14th overall, while in the 250 Class Luke Clout (Suzuki) was 21st and Jackson Richardson (Honda) 26th overall.

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will host its 12th and final round of the 2016 season next Saturday, 27 August, from Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana.