Phoenix, AZ – JDR/J-Star/KTM rider Joey Savatgy was the talk of the day at the second round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series held at Chase Field after turning in an impressive heat race and finishing inside the top ten in the 250SX class in only his second professional Supercross race. The rookie Supercross star was joined by both his teammates, Malcolm Stewart and Josh Cachia, in the main event which allowed the entire team to be well represented for the night show.

Stewart was placed in the first 250SX heat where he earned a 7^th place start. Within the first three turns he made a pass into 6^th position. He stuck to the tail of the 5^th place rider but was unable to move up a position and finished the race in 6^th place to qualify to the main event.

All eyes were on the #176 of Savatgy at the start of the second 250SX heat where he pulled a massive holeshot and led his first official lap around a Supercross track. He held off pressure from Martin Davalos early in the race to maintain the led for the first five laps. On the final lap, it was Eli Tomac who began to pressure Savatgy. With a few corners to go, Tomac snuck in on the inside and pushed Savatgy off the track to take over the lead. Savatgy gave it his all and came back to cross the line in 2^nd position just a bike length behind Tomac.

“It was hard to not pull off the win after leading the first five laps of the heat,” commented Savatgy. “Overall, I am happy with my performance and excited to get a great gate pick for the main event.”

The third member of the JDR/J-Star/KTM Team, Josh Cachia, qualified for his first official Supercross race after finishing 8^th in the second heat. The Australian rider suffered a few crashes at Anaheim that kept him from qualifying but he rode a solid heat race in Phoenix to put his KTM in the main.

When the gate dropped for the main, it was Savatgy who jumped out front early. At the end of the first lap, Savatgy was sitting in 3^rd position while Cachia and Stewart were running 11^th and 12^th respectively. Throughout the fifteen lap main, Savatgy charged hard and managed to hold his own against the veteran 250SX riders. At the end of the race he was able to finish inside the top ten with a 9^th place finish. Cachia held on for 14^th overall while Stewart finished 18^th after suffering a crash part way through the race.

Next Race: Anaheim II – January 19, 2013

Overall Results 250SX Class –

1. Eli Tomac
2. Ken Roczen – KTM
3. Martin Davalos
4. Cole Seely
5. Jessy Nelson
6. Zach Osborne
7. Ryan Sipes
8. Kyle Cunningham
9. Joey Savatgy – KTM

10. Christian Craig

11. Max Anstie

12. Tyla Rattray

13. Austin Politelli

14. Josh Cachia – KTM

15. Travis Bright

16. Trevor Reis

17. Michael Leib

18. Malcolm Stewart – KTM

19. Topher Ingalls

20. Jake Canada

 

Overall Point Standings 250 SX Class –

1. Eli Tomac – 50
2. Ken Roczen – 44
3. Cole Seely – 38
4. Ryan Sipes – 29
5. Zach Osborne – 29
6. Kyle Cunningham – 23
7. Tyla Rattray – 22
8. Max Anstie – 22
9. Martin Davalos – 21

10. Joey Savatgy – 20

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.