Quick, clean starts and consistency proved key for Mobil 1 Rick Ware Racing’s Joey Savatgy in Abu Dhabi, with the Kawasaki-equipped racer claiming the round victory, plus the red plate following the second round of the 2023 World Supercross Championship (WSX). With the points lead entering Melbourne’s finals, Savatgy shared his Fast Thoughts in this latest feature.

Image: Supplied.

Challenges across the first two rounds… 

Yeah, to be honest both rounds one and two, I haven’t been that good, but thankfully, I get off the gate pretty well and I put myself in a good spot. I knew tonight was going to be super-important for that – obviously round one was important, but not as important as tonight. Both rounds, in my opinion, I have been a little bit sub-par for me. I just haven’t been gelling that great with the motorcycle, and yeah, like I said, we made it work, and we’ve got one more.

On-track drama in WSX…

For me, like it is what it is. I expect the tough racing and from my standpoint, were the passes hard? Yeah. Did I kind of expect it? Yeah, of course. The one thing that maybe I wish I would have spoken up sooner during the day was the finish line didn’t have any tuff blocks on the landing, so it didn’t matter how tight you wanted to go. The guy behind you could go tighter, to the point that you could drive off the side of the bridge. I guess, I mean in hindsight, we should have made… I should have said something when I noticed it, like ‘hey this is going to be an issue’. That was some of the reason why I didn’t protect the inside, because it didn’t matter how far to the inside I went, I knew he was going to go further inside. So I thought maybe if I had a big enough gap, I could get through that corner and get through the whoops, and pull away to where I didn’t have to worry about the next lap. It wasn’t the case, but as far as the rough racing and stuff, I expected it, the track is tight and there is not a whole lot you can do about it, I guess.

Image: Supplied.

Holding the championship lead entering Melbourne’s final round… 

Yeah, of course, it’s nice to have it. I’d be much happier if I have it at the end of the night in Australia, but it’s definitely cool to get to run the red plates. I mean we are going to be back on a normal track, so it is going to be really hard to beat Kenny [Ken Roczen]. He’s in a good place I think, mentally, and he is gelling with his motorcycle right now. I know it is going to be a big task, all I can do is the same thing I did tonight, just try to get good starts and put myself in a position to stay out of the carnage and up front. What comes is what comes.