Page 88 - ISSUE-47

JOEY SAVATGY
250 SX / 14TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Joey Savatgy’s season leading up to Las Vegas had been full of missed opportunities. After winning the open-
ing round of the 250 East Coast series, he looked to be the man to beat for the title. However, the next two rounds would shake things up as he would struggle and bobble to a fourth and a sixth. He gave up the points lead to Zach Osborne and just like that he was fighting from behind. He tried getting back to his winning ways to regain the lead but instead he’d reel off four straight second place finishes. Three of which he led at one point and crashed while leading. His crashes were never major but enough to aggravate him and keep him just off the top step of the podium. The consistency did end up paying off though as he regained the points lead. But his rash of mistakes caught up to him when he crashed while in second last weekend in East Rutherford and cut the track after he remounted. It docked him five positions and instead of entering Las Vegas with a seven-point lead over Osborne, he would be one point behind Jordon Smith and tied with Osborne for second. After several missed opportunities to take control of the title, he had one more chance to make amends and bring it home.
He qualified fourth in practice but was just a tick off his teammate Adam Cianciarulo and title rival Zach Osborne. He locked in and prepared for the dramatic night of racing ahead. He got out to a strong start the 250 West heat race emerging from lap one right behind Dylan Ferrandis. Savatgy stalked him for the first two laps before making the move and taking the lead. He rode away with the win after stringing together strong laps and he looked ready to try and win the title in the shootout.
Savatgy started the shootout in prime position in second just behind Cianciarulo. He was just ahead of Smith in third and Osborne, who had gone down in the first turn and was in dead last. Then before anything else could happen,
he nearly threw it away again. He washed out entering a rhythm section. He managed to keep the bike running but dropped back to seventh. He immediately surged back to fourth the following lap and was going after Smith who was now in fifth. He then got handed a gift the very next lap when Smith went down extremely hard coming out of Monster Alley knocking himself out of the race. The title looked like it would surely be his but then he started riding too tight and cautious. He got passed by three riders in one lap midway through the race sending him back to seventh. This meant that Cianciarulo had a chance at the title if Savatgy moved back a few more spots. Things really began to tighten up when Decotis passed him sending him back to eighth in the latter half of the race. After that he started to ride a little better and it looked like the bleeding had stopped. He even surged back forward a bit and challenged Decotis. But then on the last lap, with two turns to go, Zach Osborne came out of nowhere and completely cleaned him out sending him reeling to the dirt. It appeared as if Savatgy had no idea he was even that close because he left the door open for him to make such a move. The move would give Osborne the title and send Savatgy to finish the race in fourteenth and back to third in the championship. It was one of the most unbelievable races in recent memory if not ever. Unfortu- nately, Savatgy was on the bad of end of it. He fought hard all season long but just could not stay mistake free and let several golden opportunities slip away. I’m sure this one will sting for years to come but he will have to quickly regain his composure and prepare for battle and revenge this coming outdoor season.
88 GRITMOTO • MAY 7, 2017