For two decades, what we know today as Monster Energy AMA Supercross was co-sanctioned by both the AMA and the FIM, making it both a U.S. domestic and an international World Championship. After the 2021 season, though, Feld Entertainment (the supercross promoters) chose to let the FIM sanction expire, reverting back to exclusive AMA sanctioning. This put the FIM World Supercross Championship tag up for grabs, and a group called SX Global has come together to create a new version of the series. Principals from the highly-successful AUS-X Open in Australia and the Australian V8 Supercar Series are building the all-new FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), set to begin with a “pilot” season this fall. There is a lot of news to follow, so we gathered up some of the confirmed teams, riders, and information for the pilot season here (Note: a full season with over a dozen rounds is set to take place in 2023, although details on that have yet to be announced).
Classes: The SX1 is the primary 450cc division and the SX2 is a 250cc division, although there are no pointing out rules or age restrictions for the 250cc class. In the MX2 class of MXGP championship there is an age limit—once you hit 23 years old you have to move up—and Monster Energy AMA Supercross in the U.S. has a pointing out rule—once a rider hits 135 or more points in four seasons and/or wins two championships they have to move up. Neither rule will exist in the FIM World Supercross Championship. So experienced 450cc riders from U.S. AMA Supercross will be able to compete in the SX2 class of the WSX, and we believe that will happen.
Teams and Riders: World Supercross is using a much different model than the traditional mix of factory teams and factory-supported units that make up the traditional paddock in the sport. Teams here are essentially privately-owned franchises, and only 10 teams will be eligible to race the series. Nine of the ten teams have been announced already, and each must compete with two riders in each class at each race.
The series announced it will help subsidize the teams with funding and a large purse to help offset costs. Says the series: The championship will be made up of 10 elite, exclusive teams, driven by independent owners, who will each be afforded an unparalleled level of financial support. This includes seed funding to each licensed team, an appearance fee for every event, as well as logistical support as they navigate the globe. In total, more than US $50M has been designated for Team and Athlete support over the next five years alone.
Here are the confirmed teams and riders to date, with a class noted when it has been confirmed.
SX1: #94 Ken Roczen (Note: Roczen has yet to announce what team he will ride for)
SX1:#15 Dean Wilson
SX1: #3 Eli Tomac (Racing first event only as Wild Card)
MDK Motorsports
SX1: #22 Chad Reed
SX2: TBA
SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda
SX1: #10 Justin Brayton and #64 Vince Friese
SX2: #54 Mitchell Oldenburg and #200 Cole Seely
Honda Genuine Honda Racing
SX1: TBA
SX2: #99 Max Anstie & #20 Wilson Todd
Craig Dack Racing (CDR Yamaha)
SX1: #4 Luke Clout
SX2: #9 Aaron Tanti
tbd class: #11 Kyle Chisholm
Other Confirmed Teams with rosters TBA:
Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX
Pipes Motorsports Group (the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki team)
Stéphane Dassé’s Bud Racing Kawasaki
Serge Guidetty’s GSM Yamaha
American Rick Ware Racing
2022 WSX Schedule
Round 1
British Grand Prix
Date: Saturday, October 8
Location: Principality Stadium in Cardiff, UK
Round 2
Australian Grand Prix
Date: Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22
Location: Marvel Stadium | Melbourne
Details for Rounds 3 and 4 are TBA Soon
What else: Obviously putting together a series worthy of a tag like World Supercross Championship in less than one year is no simple task, and that’s why the series is branding year one (2022) as a pilot season. Next year’s schedule should be larger and is said to begin during the summer months.
