The FIM World Supercross Championship has pulled together some big names for its first season in its new format, and the season is set to get underway in Cardiff this October.
A World Supercross Championship is not a new concept. In fact, it is not even one that is being revived. Strictly speaking, the American Supercross series was also the World Championship up until the end of the 2021 season.
From this year, the AMA and FIM have parted ways, meaning that the FIM World Supercross Championship needed a new promoter.
Aside from the AMA Supercross Championship, the main Supercross series in the world was the Australian series, run by SX Global. Aus X Open attracted big names from America every winter - or, strictly speaking, summer - for a relatively short series that took place before the start of the AMA season.
Justin Brayton was one rider who turned the Australian championship into a mainstay of his own racing calendar, and even Jason Anderson - 2018 450SX champion - showed up and won championships ‘down under’.
The Australian series’ promoter, SX Global, is now the promoter for the FIM World Supercross Championship, which is now set to get underway for its inaugural, three-round, season on 8 October at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium for the British Grand Prix.
“Our mission with WSX is to elevate supercross to a truly global audience and give international fans the opportunity to experience this incredible sport at a world championship level, firsthand,” said SX Global’s motorsport managing director, Adam Bailey. “As the kick-off to this global Championship, the British Grand Prix marks a momentous occasion for supercross.”
Speedway fans will recognise the Principality Stadium as the location for the British Speedway Grand Prix, but the number of rounds following that opener could arguably be some cause for concern.
The first season of this SX Global-promoted World SX series was always going to be a shortened schedule, courtesy of the short period of time between SX Global being confirmed as the promoter for the series, and the start of the championship in October.
However, it was initially going to be a five-round championship, before expanding in 2023, when it would become a longer championship that started earlier in the year, overlapping with the AMA Pro Motocross series.
This was something which the Pro Motocross series promoter, MX Sports, was unhappy about. Although it is a “World Championship,” there is still little more scope for FIM championship to attract major names from the European motocross scene. Tim Gajser, for example, is an out-and-out motocrosser.
We saw when he went to race the Monster Energy Cup that the four-times Motocross World Champion is not able to switch to a supercross-style track and instantly be as competitive as he is in motocross.
The same could be said for the rest of the MXGP field, simply because they spend their whole time racing and practicing motocross, whereas the US-based riders split their time between supercross and motocross.
That means that the World SX series is going to be taking the majority of its riders from America, which is of little benefit to the Pro Motocross series when there are overlapping races, as there are set to be next year.
The reduced calendar for 2022 means that World SX starts after the end of the Pro Motocross season - which finishes on 3 September - and after the Motocross des Nations, which takes place two weeks after the end of the MXGP season at Redbud in the US on 25 September.
Therefore, for this season at least, SX Global has been able to pull in some major names from US motocross to race the World Championship.
Firstly, they were able to sign Ken Roczen. Since the World Championship in its previous form was always just considered the AMA series, it has been confusing to see “WSX number two” next to his name in the PR announcing him for this year’s World Championship. But, strictly speaking it is accurate.
The major controversy surrounding Roczen, though, is that he has not signed a deal with a team but with World SX itself. This means that he will be “given” to a team, which has reportedly caused some of the franchised World SX teams to be upset.
According to Jason Thomas, speaking on the PulpMX Show on 3 July, the original agreement between the teams and SX Global was that the series would not go and sign big name riders. The teams themselves signed who they could afford to sign.
The aforementioned Justin Brayton, for example, will be riding for the Motoconcepts team of Mike Genova and managed by Tony Alessi.
Motoconcepts, actually, could be a potential landing spot for HRC-contracted Roczen. The team runs Hondas in the AMA series, including this year with Brayton - himself a previous factory HRC rider and long-timer CRF450 pilot. Additionally, Cole Seely, who will be racing for Motoconcepts in the 250 class, was a factory Honda rider before he retired at the end of 2019.
But, the ultimate point is that one team is going to be “given” Ken Roczen, a rider who has been one of the three best supercross riders in the world pretty much since his 450SX debut, when he won in Anaheim in 2014.
Similarly, Eli Tomac - who will also be in Cardiff for the opening round - has been essentially regarded as the outright fastest supercross rider on the planet since 2017. He finally clinched his first AMA/FIM 450SX title in 2020, and won the AMA 450SX championship in dominant fashion earlier this year.
Currently, Tomac is in a rich vein of form in the 450MX class in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, where he is looking to win the title for the first time since 2019. It would be his fourth outdoor title in total, his outdoor title with Yamaha, and his second of the year after his aforementioned AMA Supercross triumph.
If Tomac goes to Redbud - where he won both motos and the overall last weekend in the Pro National - for the Motocross des Nations, his 2022 could go down as one of the most historic in the history of motorcycle racing should Team USA take the win.
Tomac is currently only in Cardiff as a wildcard, but should the possibility arise for him to compete at World SX rounds two and three, the hypothetical scenario that creates at the time of writing (7 July 2022) is quite spectacular.
“I’m pumped to be heading to Cardiff to compete in the FIM World Supercross British Grand Prix,” said Tomac. “It’s a huge opportunity for fans in the UK to witness world championship supercross for the first time, and I’m excited to be part of such a historical moment for the sport.”
Tickets for the British Supercross Grand Prix at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will go on sale tomorrow, Friday 8 July, on Live Nation.
