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JOEY SAVATGY
250 MX / 6TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / TILLS
>> Florida native Joey Savatgy showed heart this weekend in Massachu- setts. In pursuit of creating a truly “Old School Southwick” feel, thirty fresh loads of sand were spread over the base of hard-packed terrain. The track was bound to get tough and be rough on the bikes. Familiar with the sand, and searching for better results than he had at Redbud last weekend, Savatgy lined up for the first 250 moto at The Wick ready to battle for the results he was capable of achieving. The gates dropped, and the number 17 machine found himself in the fifth place spot early on. After passes by Osborne and Harrison, Savatgy fell back to the seventh place position by the halfway point of the race. Joey Savatgy was the only Pro Circuit Kawa- saki rider who avoided drama in the first moto and was able to hold on and finish the race in seventh place. Gray rain clouds hung heavy above the riders as they lined up for the second 250 moto of the day. The air was hot and muggy as thirty-second card went up and the gates dropped. Savatgy found himself once again in a solid fifth place spot out of the first turn. Adaptation proved to be everything as the track continued to become chop- pier, the sand was hitting riders in tidal waves and sticking to everything, and the rain started to fall. Even with all of the obstacles, Joey Savatgy continued to push forward and he soon found himself on the back tire of Hampshire in fourth. With two laps remaining, Savatgy seemed to be one of the few riders that had any tear-offs left in the torrential downpour and showed us all true grit as tried to conquer these conditions with such little time remaining in the moto. Joey Savatgy was not able to pass Hampshire by the checkered, but he proved himself strong. With a 7-5 for the day, Savatgy left Southwick with a hard earned sixth place overall finish.
44 GRITMOTO • JULY 9, 2017