WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 54 ISSUE 17 MAY 2, 2017 P79
250SX EAST
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit
Kawasaki's Joey Savatgy came
into the penultimate round of
the 2017 250cc Eastern Re-
gional Supercross Champion-
ship with a six-point lead over
his closest competitor in terms
of points, TLD/Red Bull KTM's
Jordon Smith. However, lurking
only six points farther back was
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Zach Osborne, whose bad luck
in Detroit cost him the points
lead that up until that point he
had been rather dominant in
attaining. With a few weeks off
following the St. Louis round
while the West guys got back
going again, Osborne came out
swinging in New Jersey.
Osborne set the fastest time
in qualifying, and just as he had
in his three previous wins, he
had to come from behind in the
main event. And he made it look
easy in the process.
Savatgy's teammate Adam
Cianciarulo got the holeshot,
but Savatgy was immediately by
and into the lead over Ciancia-
rulo, while Yamalube/Star Rac-
ing Yamaha's Dylan Ferrandis
fought off the Geico Honda pair
of Christian Craig and his new
teammate Cameron McAdoo.
Osborne started midpack
and rounded lap one in seventh
place.
Still, Osborne was on fire, as
he fought his way through the
frontrunners to take the lead
from Savatgy at the halfway
point in the 15-minute timed
main event, then he began pull-
ing away.
By himself in second, Savat-
gy went down a few laps later
when he hit a kicker in a rhythm
section and went down in an
adjacent lane. He got back
up and going as quickly as he
could, but he then technically
cut a bit of the course off since
he continued forward from the
spot in which he crashed rather
than returning to the lane he
came from. Ferrandis took over
second, and Savatgy third, and
that's how they'd finish.
250SX East New Jersey Highlights