SX Global Announces Next Two Teams for FIM World Supercross Championship
Last week, SX Global (the Australian company now in control of the FIM World Supercross Championship) announced the first four teams for the 2022 championship that will be contested later this fall: Mike Genova’s SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda; Dustin Pipes’ Pipes Motorsports Group (the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki team); Stéphane Dassé’s Bud Racing Kawasaki; and Serge Guidetty’s GSM Yamaha. Pipes was on the PulpMX Show on Monday night to explain details about his team's plans for the championship.
Today, the series has announced two more teams: Craig Dack Racing (CDR) Yamaha and American Rick Ware Racing. The announcement of these teams covers the spectrum, as Dack's CDR team is a motocross and supercross mainstay in Australia, so it's not a surprise to see them entering the series. Ware, though, comes from four-wheeled racing, so this is a new entity in the sport altogether.
The release also states the four remaining licensed teams will be announcing in the near future, as the series will be capped at four teams.
Again, the pilot season of the FIM World Supercross Championship is set to take place starting in September with "up to" four events, but is expected to ramp up the amount of races significantly for 2023.
Below is the full press release from SX Global:
SX Global Announces Next Two of Ten Exclusive Race Teams for the FIM World Supercross Championship in 2022
Australia’s Craig Dack Racing and NASCAR & IndyCar Veteran Rick Ware Racing Execute Team Agreements; With Four Licenses for the 2022 Pilot Season Left to be Announced
Australia—SX Global, the Australian company spearheading the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), today announced the next two of the 10 exclusive team licenses it will issue for its global championship. The two teams include Australia’s Craig Dack Racing (CDR) and American Rick Ware Racing, whose extensive experience includes NASCAR and IndyCar racing teams, as well as American supercross dating back to the early 2000s. The CDR team adds Australia to the international footprint of the global championship while bringing supercross powerhouse, Monster Energy into the mix.
As with the first four teams announced last week, these two teams bring the highest levels of experience in professional supercross and motocross in both the 450 and 250 classes, while also bringing a shared vision and spirit of collaboration in elevating the sport through this dynamic global series. Combined with the French representation of Bud Racing and GSM Yamaha teams, the Australian representation underscores the Championship’s global emphasis and overriding mission of reinforcing and increasing supercross’ relevance in key international markets.
Over the coming weeks, the WSX four remaining licensed teams will be announced, completing the exclusive 10-team field. These latest two and team principals are broken down in greater detail below:
- Craig Dack Racing – Craig Dack: Supported by Yamaha, Dack runs the most successful team in Australian motocross and supercross history. Spring boarding motocross and supercross star Chad Reed’s career, Dack managed the Yamaha of Troy team in the United States where Reed won 7 of 8 races in his first season on the East Coast Championship. Furthermore, Dack’s team is supported by action sports powerhouse, Monster Energy.
- Rick Ware Racing – Rick Ware: A mainstay on the NASCAR circuit, former driver Rick Ware runs the Rick Ware Racing (RWR) Team with extensive experience in the world of motorsports. Boasting more than 1,000 starts in multiple premier auto racing series around the world, RWR currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Series. Ware is also a veteran of motocross and supercross, having owned and managed supercross teams in the late 2000s.
“Aside from operating and competing at the highest levels of the sport, the addition of Dack’s Monster Energy Yamaha team expands the international relevance to our backyard where we have a storied history of popular supercross events in Australia, while also bridging across the broader realm of prominent American auto racing through Rick Ware’s history in NASCAR and IndyCar racing,” said Adam Bailey, managing director - Motorsport of SX Global. “It’s incredible to see the intensive demand for these exclusive licenses with teams at the highest levels of competition, and with the sophistication and commitment to support and sustain a truly global Championship.”
A model unprecedented in supercross yet utilized amongst the majority of thriving sports leagues and motorsports series around the world, WSX features an exclusive team ownership structure that allows each team to increase its value over time, while also enabling a host of commercial opportunities on global and regional levels for international and local events. This unique model, combined with SX Global’s allocation of $50 million specifically for team and rider support over the Championship’s first five years, has driven widespread interest for the coveted 10-team allotment, as evidenced by more than 40 ownership applications submitted from suitors across the globe.
“Our ambitions and plans have faced incredible skepticism, but for those that have doubted us, or continue to do so, we hope this lineup of credible, powerful teams and owners speaks volumes to our ability to bring this Championship to fruition at the level necessary to give fans across the world a truly top-tier global supercross offering,” said Tony Cochrane, president of SX Global. “What may be most valuable to us is the strength that each of these teams brings our series through their spirit of partnership – that shared vision and commitment to global success is extremely powerful and will drive us forward in the years to come.”
This team announcement is just one of many ongoing development efforts that will continue to elevate and solidify the FIM World Supercross Championship. The Championship will feature a highly exclusive structure, with unparalleled level of financial support for teams, including seed funding for every team awarded a license, appearance fees at every round, and logistics and freight support. The global series will feature the richest championship prize purses in the sport’s history, with a total of USD$250,000 up for grabs at each round.
The FIM World Supercross Championship will annually take place in the second half of the year, including up to four events in 2022, from late September through November. 2022 will serve as a “pilot” season, allowing the championship to establish itself and build momentum going into 2023. 2023, and subsequent years, will see the FIM World Supercross Championship expand annually between June and November, with up to twelve events in 2023.
For more information and updates news and announcements from SX Global and the FIM World Supercross Championship visit SXGlobal.com and wsxchampionship.com.
