The second season of the new FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) wrapped in Australia's Marvel Stadium on Saturday. Rick Ware Racing's Joey Savatgy came into the race with the points lead, but Ken Roczen, of Pipes Motorsports Group, was able to go 1-1-2 in the three main events to get the points lead back and win the title for the second time. Savatgy went down off the start in the second race (with some help from Vince Friese), and that pretty much dashed any hope he had for the title.
After the race, Ken and Joey took questions in the post-race media conference.
Ken, congratulations. You began the weekend with, with a slight points deficit. What a turnaround here at Marvel Stadium.
Ken Roczen: Yeah, I knew it was gonna be tough. With these races like you just never know what's gonna happen. You saw it in Abu Dhabi. So I by no means came here taking it lightly, but having said that we made the absolute most out of it. We had a little bit of adversity to fight through because I really had some clutch problems both yesterday and today, and then we went with a completely different set up into the heat race. So it took me a little bit of time to get used to and my clutch pull was actually so stiff I could literally barely pull! [Laughs] So it was tough. But nonetheless, once the gate drops, it doesn't really matter what you have on the bike you just gotta go. I was able to slice and dice my way through and was able to win the first couple. And in the last one, I just chopped the throttle on the start turn because it's just not been fun these first couple of turns. So I just played it safe and I was really buried really far in the pack and ultimately, the race, I was kind of surprised when the checkered flag came out, but that's just what happens when you're in race mode. Like, I wasn't really paying attention to how many laps we have done. So in the end, I'm just glad that I was able to get it done.
A world crown is pretty special. You get to keep the #1, give us a sense of what that means.
Absolutely. And especially going back to back. In general, I've never really stayed in a class long enough to be able to actually defend the title. So, this is my first [successful title defense].
How do you feel in terms of the cachet of the riders that you were up against this year? Perhaps give us a sense of what the 2023 title means.
Yeah, it means a lot. Ultimately, I just hope we can get some more racing going, like [having] more races, right? But yeah these guys are getting faster and faster and you see what happens when you're buried in the pack. Like I can't really just make my way to the front with the snap of a finger.
Following Abu Dhabi and then Paris as well, how important was it for you to kind of reset and get this type of result tonight? And obviously the world championship was the end result. Just a good night in general for you. So, how important was that?
For sure. I think my riding was just back up to normal, I would say. Then, like I said, it was a little bit unique cause yesterday in a couple of practices and even today in the practices, I had a really hard time focusing on doing laps and kind of figuring out where to go faster just because we had a couple of little bike issues that I had to figure out and I had to get a feel for it. But at the same time, like you can't let that completely ruin everything cause even when I had a problem, I think it was qualifying or maybe it was free practice, I just kept riding and doing laps cause I'm like, “Hey, if this is what I have to deal with and we have to go into racing, then I at least have to feel comfortable with it.” So I guess I just tried to work with what I had. So it's just always a learning experience, right? Like I've almost been a pro for 15 years but yet when these situations come, you try to deal with that and you're always learning. So yes, I'm on board because Abu Dhabi didn't quite go as I wanted to, even though I won the last main. Paris wasn't that great for me and just coming back and, I felt like my riding was on par and I felt, I felt pretty strong out there. I didn't win the last one, but all in all it was just good to kind of like at least finish it on a high note and, and go back and get some rest and overall my body and everything, I'm in a pretty good spot and, yeah, I can just focus on what's to come in 2024.
Joey Savatgy
Joey. Can we come to you for a report card and how you feel at the end of the night here and at the end of the championship knowing where you were coming into the Melbourne weekend.
Joey Savatgy: Yeah, like I said coming into it in the press conference, I know I was leading the points but I knew Ken was the favorite and, you know, rightfully. What's there to say? The guy's good, you know? So I knew I had my work cut out for me and honestly I think what I'm bummed about the most is just that I didn't really execute as well as I needed to. I didn’t put myself upfront, which I knew I needed to do if I wanted any chance to beat Ken. Even if I did that, it was gonna be tough, but that was something that I was well aware of coming into it.
Number two, it's just, I don't mind getting beat, and I haven't seen it on video, but for me, it was one of the situations where if I don't try to maybe fade wide and block Kenny in the first turn, he's gonna be on my inside in the next corner. So I'm kind of in a dammed if you do, dammed if you don't situation, so I kind of went out there to block him and I didn't have time to react. Just a red bike [Vince Friese] came flying across, that’s what it felt like. Like I said, I don't want to speak without watching it, but it felt like a red bike just came flying across from the inside. It’s unfortunate. I don't mind losing, especially to someone like him [Roczen] as respectable as he is. It's just unfortunate that the circumstances fell the way they did.
How do you bounce from this and, and looking ahead to 2024?
I have a lot to look forward to. I'm not gonna race AMA Supercross this year. They've decided to not let me down [back down to the 250SX class]. I'm a full focused on 2024 MX. It’s a chance, one last chance to kind of rewrite my ending to a Lites career that…you know, what was at the end of the day my fault for not doing my job when I needed to, in 2017. But I do feel like I'm in good shape and I have a lot of time between now and, and the first round, I have a lot of time. I know my plate will be full but you know there's never been a time in my career where I've felt more hungry. I have an opportunity and I really want to capitalize on being able to rewrite the ending of my 250 career and and try to win the other title. I think anything other than that is…I'd be lying if I said that's not the goal. So anything shy of that's gonna be, a disappointment. Obviously I know that's gonna be a tall task. But I believe with the team around me and the amount of time that I have, it should be feasible.
You know, at one point your program in America, it was getting hard to find a ride. What did it mean to your career to get this chance in the World Supercross Championship?
Yeah, it gave me a home. Like Max [Anstie, 2023 SX2 Champion] said, we were teammates in ‘22 I think maybe, and, you know, the team was going down a hole that I don't think we wanted to be a part of. And I had a knee injury. Kawi called with an opportunity for me and felt like I did the best I could with the amount of time that I had. This kind of opened up, a place for me to stay with a bike that I was relatively familiar with. You know, we've had some good success here, obviously not what we wanted by any means, but again, it's not like we're getting beat by no name people. So, I was glad that the deal came together I'm thankful for Rick [Ware, team owner] and, and the whole team. It gave me a home when I was searching for something.