Joey Savatgy was by no means off the radar coming into the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, but there probably weren't very many people betting he'd be the fastest qualifier and go 1-1 at the GoPro Hangtown Motocross Classic. We talked to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider immediately following his outstanding performance.
Racer X: Great day for you Joey, give us the overall picture of how it went.
Joey Savatgy: I hate the first round so much. There are so many unknowns coming into the season and it’s just like supercross. You feel good but you don’t know where you’re going to be until the gate drops. We started the day off good, we qualified quickest, and followed it up with a good start in the first moto. Got the holeshot and led every lap. That was a good way to start it! The main goal coming here was to get on the podium and leave with good points. I didn’t want to throw it away. There are a lot of dudes in this class who are fast and you don’t want to put yourself behind. Not with this many dudes. The goal was to be on the podium and we did well. Qualified first and won both motos. There’s not a lot left to say. It was a picture perfect day.
When you saw the red flag come out were you happy? You didn’t get the best start in the second moto.
I want to say I was about sixth. But that red flag is one of those deals where okay, you get another shot but in the same breath, you’ve got another chance to put yourself in a worse position. But that’s our job and we’re here to execute. It helped me out, we were able to get in a good position and we followed Jessy [Nelson] for a long time and he had some better lines. I picked up on those and was able to get close enough to make a move, and once I got around him I pulled a tearoff and had clean vision. I tried to focus on my race and keep an eye on my lap times and make sure I wasn’t dropping off.
Your lap times were pretty consistent, within about a second the whole time. Is that something you work on during the week?
Yeah. Jeannie [Carmichael], she’s hard on the stopwatch, man. I’m surprised she hasn’t burned through more batteries than she has. We work hard during the week and we’ve been working hard since last year. I feel like I’ve made that transition and things are starting to click. I’ve really learned more about myself since being there than I have in a long time, and what it takes to be here. I didn’t know I was that close on lap times the whole time but that’s good. When I text Jeannie later she’ll be proud and won’t have too much to yell at me about! But there’s always room to improve. We’ll learn where I can be better and I’ll try to improve for next weekend.
First career moto wins today. Has it sunk in? You had a perfect day.
It’s one of those deals where I want to celebrate. But we have twenty-two more motos and this isn’t going to do me any good if I can’t put things together the rest of the season. It’s a great place to start, 1-1 on the day, fifty points, and fastest qualifier. It’s exactly where we want to be. But there are twenty-two more motos left and just have to keep working. Everyone is getting better and there’s always more to learn. We’ll watch some film from this weekend and learn and maybe do a little bit of testing this week, although I don’t want to change my bike much, it’s working pretty good right now! Just have to keep my head down, keep grinding, and come out swinging next weekend.
This time last year after the first round, is there anything specific you think has given you extra speed?
Last year wasn’t the best way to start. We were injured going into supercross and I had probably two weeks before supercross started. Then we got to Vegas and I KO’d myself in Vegas. So that set me back, and going into outdoors I had maybe a couple days. I’ve learned to be smarter. Practice days are important but there’re no trophies to be won on practice days. I’m around a group of people who are smart and successful. Ricky [Carmichael] is in my corner and Jeannie is in my corner, and Mitch [Payton] is in my corner. I have great supporters. It’s a very positive group and when you’re with a group of people who want to see you succeed and want the best for you it makes a big difference.
How did things change when the rain started coming down?
When it started coming it was getting between my tearoffs. I had twenty-eight to start the moto I think and I pulled one after I got the holeshot, I’m not sure why. But the rain started getting between my tearoffs so in the next few laps I had to pull twenty-seven tearoffs. But when I got down to my lens I could see and my vision wasn’t blurred. From there it was slippery and lines changed a little bit. I had to be smart. Nothing too crazy, though, we got the job done.
