The 250SX class is essentially the 125 class in supercross, and that class started in 1985. (Yeah, that’s right, kids, from 1974 through 1984, 16-year olds broke into professional supercross by riding the 250 two-stroke class against the best in the business. No Road to Supercross back then, and no one really had supercross practice tracks, either. That’s what they call jumping into the deep end!) But the class really changed in 2001 when Yamaha introduced the YZ250F, and made a wholesale change by 2004, by which time all the Japanese manufacturers had their own 250Fs.
In 2004, though, James Stewart kept the 125 flame alive single-handedly by winning the 125 East Championship against a sea of 250Fs. Once he moved up, 125s were pretty much done at the front, making 2005 the real start of the 250F era.
So with two more 250F titles to be wrapped this weekend in Las Vegas, lets look at brand successes on these bikes since that 2005 season, and what trends emerge.
| SX Wins | SX Titles | ||
| 2005 | |||
| Kawasaki | 5 | 2 | |
| Honda | 2 | 0 | |
| KTM | 5 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 0 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 4 | 0 | |
| 2006 | |||
| Kawasaki | 4 | 1 | |
| Honda | 10 | 1 | |
| KTM | 2 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 0 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007 | |||
| Kawasaki | 11 | 2 | |
| Honda | 0 | 0 | |
| KTM | 0 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 1 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 4 | 0 | |
| 2008 | |||
| Kawasaki | 4 | 0 | |
| Honda | 5 | 1 | |
| KTM | 0 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 3 | 1 | |
| Suzuki | 4 | 0 | |
| 2009 | |||
| Kawasaki | 11 | 1 | |
| Honda | 2 | 0 | |
| KTM | 0 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 0 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 4 | 1 | |
| 2010 | |||
| Kawasaki | 12 | 2 | |
| Honda | 3 | 0 | |
| KTM | 0 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 1 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | |||
| Kawasaki | 9 | 1 | |
| Honda | 7 | 1 | |
| KTM | 1 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 2 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 0 | 0 | |
| 2012 | |||
| Kawasaki | 3 | 0 | |
| Honda | 13 | 2 | |
| KTM | 1 | 0 | |
| Yamaha | 1 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | |||
| Kawasaki | 2 | 0 | |
| Honda | 7 | 1 | |
| KTM | 8 | 1 | |
| Yamaha | 0 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 2 | 0 | |
| 2014 | |||
| Kawasaki | 9 | 0 | |
| Honda | 4 | 1 | |
| KTM | 4 | 1 | |
| Yamaha | 1 | 0 | |
| Suzuki | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015 | |||
| Kawasaki | 0 | 0 | |
| Honda | 2 | 0 | |
| KTM | 7 | 1 | |
| Yamaha | 7 | 1 | |
| Suzuki | 0 | 0 | |
| Total: | |||
| Kawasaki | 70 | 9 | |
| Honda | 55 | 7 | |
| KTM | 28 | 3 | |
| Yamaha | 16 | 2 | |
| Suzuki | 20 | 1 |
It’s widely known in the industry that Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Mitch Payton made a concerted—and expensive—effort to get the jump on everyone in four-stroke performance in 2005. That paid off with a domination streak in the early years, but the playing field has leveled quite a bit. The KX250F still stands atop the leader board in 250F wins and titles, though.
In the last five years, GEICO Honda has won five titles, which is the most during that span, and they’ll shoot for another this weekend with Malcolm Stewart, while Pro Circuit tries to get a tenth 250F crown with Joey Savatgy. Yamaha hopes Cooper Webb (or Jeremy Martin and Aaron Plessinger in the East) can continue their success that began last year. Combined with KTM’s recent run of three titles (courtesy of Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, and Marvin Musquin) and Husqvarna’s emergence, and even Suzuki jumping back into the game, the field might not ever have been as competitive as it is now.
