Joey Savatgy wins WSX Abu Dhabi; Max Anstie tops SX2
Joey Savatgy scored two podiums and a fourth-place finish in the three-race format of the World Supercross Championship to earn his second series win and take the top spot in the title hunt. Savatgy also won the 2022 season finale in Australia.
Getting off to a strong start with a win in the first main on an incredibly tight track, Savatgy had the early advantage over Scotland's Dean Wilson, who would ultimately finish second overall once the features were added together. Wilson won Moto 2.
"To be honest, in both Rounds 1 and 2, I haven't been that good," Savatgy said after the race in the press conference. "Thankfully I get off the gate pretty well and put myself in a good spot. I knew tonight was going to be super important for that."
Vince Friese rounded out the podium while the rider who entered Round 2 Ken Roczen finished fourth after a disastrous crash in Moto 1 that saw him finish 14th. Roczen was able to minimize the damage by finishing third in Moto 2 and winning the final feature of the night.
In the SX2 class, Max Anstie was the top 250cc rider after scoring wins in the second and third features. He stood on the top of the podium in Race 1 behind winner Chris Blose and France's Maxime Desprey.
Anstie also left Abu Dhabi with the points lead in his class.
"I don't really care if its MXGP or this," Anstie said. "I want one of those gold FIM medals."
The strong start to Moto 1 for Blose and Desprey contributed to them rounding out the podium in second and third respectively.
Mirroring Roczen's struggles, and in fact facing even more hardship, last year's SX2 champion Shane McElrath was buried in traffic for most of the round and barely cracked the top 10. With 36 points across the three races, he earned half that of the overall winner Anstie.
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