Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy Returns to the Podium in Detroit2015-03-23 15:53Detroit’s Ford Field hosted Round 12 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM Championship on Saturday night as Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy put his KX™250F back on the podium. Savatgy showed championship speed in the 250SX class all day and accomplished a third place finish in the main event following a great start and 15 strong laps. In the 450SX class, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki’s Chad Reed and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps battled for top honors with Reed finishing fourth and Millsaps gaining momentum with his second consecutive fifth-place finish. Josh Grant finished close on their heels in sixth place to match his best performance of the season. Back on the Box The podium was imminent for Savatgy one week ago in Indianapolis before misfortune struck and prolonged his return to the box. The Georgia native solidified his place up front by trading fast times in qualifying practice and riding a solid heat race to transfer to the main event. When the gate dropped, Savatgy hugged the inside and came out of the first turn in the top three. He clicked off competitive lap times and maintained for the first half of the main event and battled to finish third. Savatgy earned his second podium finish of the season and sits fourth overall in the Eastern Region. “I felt strong all day and was able to stay that way through the main event,” said Savatgy. “The bike is amazing and I’ve got my starts to where they should have been all season. I tried to latch on to the leaders early but I was pushing a little too hard and made a couple mistakes. I got it back together for the last five laps and got into a rhythm. Last week took the wind out of our sails for the championship, but we’ll continue to battle for race wins and start preparing for outdoors.” Building Millsaps matched his season best finish for the second consecutive weekend and his third fifth place finish. Each week, Millsaps continues to build his fitness and strength and is progressing towards the pace of the leaders. After narrowly missing a direct transfer in his heat race, Millsaps was on pace for an easy semi win before tipping over. For the main event he lined up on the very inside gate and got a great jump on his KX™450F and snuck around the inside. He maintained a podium spot in the early laps and battled amongst the championship contenders in the top five. In the second half of the main, Millsaps was able to consistently jump the large quad at the end of the rhythm section, which allowed him to separate from the rest of the field. “Tonight was the strongest I’ve felt yet and expect that to continue each weekend,” said Millsaps. “I continue to build myself each week, but so does everyone else. I’m playing catch up, but I know with time I can be back battling for podiums and wins.” KX Proof The Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki teammates of Reed and Grant dueled all day and in the main event both rode 20 strong laps to sandwich Millsaps and finish fourth and sixth, respectively. Grant matched his best finish of the season while Kawasaki rider Kyle Chisholm achieved his best performance in 11th, as did Nick Wey in 12th. On the Mend Missing from the lineup again this week was Arnaud Tonus and his KX250F. He has been battling a virus since Atlanta 2 and after consulting his home doctors in Switzerland, he has rid himself of the problem and will be returning to the U.S. Tonus plans to return to the gate before the supercross season’s end. Back on the Bike Adam Cianciarulo was cleared to throw a leg over the familiar saddle of his KX250F this week after suffering an off-season injury that kept him from contending for a supercross championship. With roughly two months before the first round of outdoor motocross, Cianciarulo and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki are beginning preparations for the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. St. Louis The Monster Energy Kawasaki semi hit the road for the relatively short trip from Detroit to St. Louis, Missouri and the Edward Jones Dome. Millsaps and the team will take part in the weekday press activities with the local media and visit local Kawasaki dealership Big St. Charles Motorsports for a pre-race party leading up Saturday. Results Monster Energy Supercross Ford Field – Detroit, Michigan Saturday, March 21, 2015 450SX Main Event Eli Tomac, Honda Ryan Dungey, KTM Cole Seeley, Honda Chad Reed, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki Davi Millsaps, Monster Energy Kawasaki Josh Grant, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki Broc Tickle, Suzuki Blake Baggett, Suzuki Andrew Short, KTM Justin Brayton, KTM 450SX Points Standings Ryan Dungey, KTM – 271 Trey Canard, Honda - 204 Eli Tomac, Honda - 194 Cole Seeley, Honda - 180 Chad Reed, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki – 170 Ken Roczen, Suzuki – 156 Blake Baggett, Suzuki – 154 Jason Anderson, Husqvarna – 145 Andrew Short, KTM – 136 Broc Tickle, Suzuki – 134 Davi Millsaps, Monster Energy Kawasaki – 119 250SX Main Event Justin Bogle, Honda Marvin Musquin, KTM Joey Savatgy, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Jeremy Martin, Yamaha Anthony Rodriguez, Yamaha Colt Nichols, Honda Kyle Cunningham, Honda Mitchell Oldenburg, Yamaha Jimmy Decotis, Honda Jace Owen, Honda 250SX Eastern Regional Points Standings Marvin Musquin, KTM - 144 Justin Bogle, Honda – 131 Jeremy Martin, Yamaha - 103 Joey Savatgy, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki – 93 RJ Hampshire, Honda – 84 Jimmy Decostis, Honda – 69 Anthony Rodriguez, Yamaha – 68 Kyle Peters, Honda – 65 Martin Davalos, Husqvarna – 63 Vince Friese, Honda - 58 Source: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. 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