Two races in one day, basically, in Australia on Saturday. Steve Matthes has already provided a brief rundown of the FIM World Championship race on the Gold Coast, which was packed with big-name Wild Card riders. We’ll give you more on that race, in a moment. Also,1,200 miles away from the Gold Coast, in Adelaide, South Australia, championships were up for grabs in the Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross Championship presented by Monster Energy.
Quad Lock Honda’s Dean Wilson dominated the night and reclaimed his crown from 2023. It was an emotional series for Dean, fighting through the loss of his mom, but in the end, he was dominant in his title run, winning all but two races to Jett Lawrence last weekend in Melbourne. Dean commented on the series saying, “I went [won] eight out of ten finals, it was amazing. I am so stoked to win, especially after everything I went through. I don’t win like I used to, so I cherish the wins we do get.”
Frenchman Cedric Soubeyras finished the series second overall, but it in Adelaide, CDR Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti had his the best ride of his season with second overall, ahead of Luke Clout.
In SX2, CDR Yamaha’s Ryder Kingsford claimed his first SX2 Championship. After his teammate Lux Turner exited the series with wrist injuries suffered in Melbourne, the title came down to two Aussie up and comers of Kingsford and Quad Lock Honda’s Alex Larwood. Kingsford made a statement in the heat, taking a dominant win over his title rival, but things got crazy when Kingsford went down off the start of Final #1. Larwood was not able to take full advantage of Kingsford’s misfortune, finishing second to Byron Dennis, just one spot ahead of Kingsford who got all the way back to third.
Larwood was able to take the Final 2 win and overall on the night, while Kingsford rode it in for fourth and his first SX2 title. Dennis and Rhys Budd rounded out the overall podium.
Onto the WSX Race inside of Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast. This was the most stacked WSX race since its inception and the racing did not disappoint. The race featured three superstar wild card riders including the WSX debut for 2025 Monster Energy Supercross champion Cooper Webb alongside his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Haiden Deegan, and reigning WSX SX1 Champion Eli Tomac. This was Deegan and Tomac’s second and final Wild Card appearances of the season.
We saw several unexpected riders getting into the mix to start the day in qualifying. In SX1, Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy topped the board and headed to Superpole with Tomac, PMG Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, and Team GSM’s Gregory Aranda, who qualified a surprising P2. Savatgy backed up his qualifying effort, barely edging out Roczen for the super pole win and first gate selection for the night.
The SX1 racing lived up to the hype. Savatgy carried his momentum from the afternoon into the night and grabbed the race one holeshot. Red Bull KTM’s Eli Tomac got off to a good start in second. Roczen was third early, but missed the triple on lap one and slid back to sixth.
Savatgy controlled the lead while his Quad Lock Honda teammate Cristian Craig went after Tomac. Craig made a brief pass on Tomac in the whoops and as those two battled it allowed Roczen to make his way up to the lead group. Around halfway, the top four of Savatgy, Tomac, Craig and Roczen tightened up and there was a lap of complete chaos as the four swapped positions left and right. As things settled down, it was Tomac to the lead with Roczen in tow.
Roczen was on rails as he made his way through the pack, and he made quick work of Tomac to take off with the lead and a dominant victory.
Behind them, the Quad Lock duo went back and forth and even got together when Savatgy got into the side of Craig. Savatgy ended up off track which allowed Craig to run away for third and Cooper Webb to get by for fourth. Haiden Deegan got off to a terrible start and ended up sixth. Even further back was Roczen’s PMG Suzuki teammate, Jason Anderson, who had an altercation with Aranda and finished a lowly eighth.
In SX1 Race two it was the former MX2 world champion Jordi Tixier grabbing the holeshot. Tixier’s glory was short lived as he got shuffled back quickly and Cooper Webb led early with Savatgy and Anderson running 2-3. As those three tried to get away up front, the entire race one podium of Roczen, Tomac, and Craig, were buried off the start. The would have to come through the field in the short eight-lap sprint race.
Haiden Deegan made his presence known as he got into it briefly with Anderson, eventually getting by for third and making a push to the back of Savatgy. Deegan made the pass and but then almost immediately went into defensive mode. Haiden began looking back and slowing down coming into the turns to block Savatgy. The two went back in forth a few times during this game of cat and mouse and it allowed Anderson back into the mix, along with Tomac, who had worked his way up to fifth. The four of them ran nose to tail until Deegan fell victim to the very slick conditions and went down. He was slow to get up and DNF’d the race.
Shortly after Deegan went down, Tomac made a massive mistake allowing Roczen up to fourth. Tomac completely imploded afterwards, even getting passed late by the Moto Concepts duo of Ryan Breece and Austin Pollitelli. Tomac finished up seventh.
While all the madness was going on behind him, Webb took off with the win, leaving he and Roczen tied for the overall GP win headed into the last race. Anderson ended up second, Savatgy third.
Eli Tomac rebounded from his rough finish in race two to grab the race three holeshot ahead of Haiden Deegan and Christian Craig. Roczen and Webb, who came into this race three tied for the overall win, got off to terrible starts and would have to come through the field to stay atop the event standings.
As the race progressed, Craig put in the most impressive performance we have seen from him since moving up to a 450 full-time. He passed his buddy Deegan and proceeded to go by the legend Tomac for the lead! Craig ran away from them and took off with the win in the most impressive of fashions.
After the race Craig talked about the struggles he had been through and what it took to get back to where he is now. “Yeah, it means a lot. I can sit here and give you a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t be racing dirt bikes right now, but we are here. I just beat some legends and proved that I can still do this. That was so much fun”, Craig explained. He also talked about the new opportunity he has with the Quad Lock Honda team saying, “I was in some crappy situations, but I’m not going to complain. We are here in a good spot, and I have a great team behind me and people who want me on their team. Shoutout to the people who counted me out, people who I thought were close to me. This one’s for you.”
Behind Craig, Deegan and Tomac got into a battle with Deegan getting the better of the two. Deegan rode off with a lonely second and Tomac was visually off what we have come accustomed to seeing over the years and even where he was two weeks ago in Vancouver. Eli eventually fell into the grasp of Roczen who got by for third to secure the overall win. Craig’s win put him second overall and although Webb was only able to get up to sixth in race three, it was enough to secure the third step on the box.
Roczen now leads the standings by a whopping 27 points, but it has been confirmed that he will not race the final two rounds. Colt Nichols will fill his PMG Progressive Suzuki spot for the remaining two rounds of the series, but he does not inherit Roczen’s points. This leaves the championship battle to be between Quad Lock Honda’s Christian Craig and Joey Savatgy, as well as PMG’s Jason Anderson who is still in the fight despite a tough night in the Gold Coast. Craig leads with 95 points, Savatgy with 83, and Anderson with 77.
In SX2, it was no surprise to see Team GSM’s (via Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) Max Anstie atop the board in qualifying. Anstie came into the night with a perfect season, including qualifying and super pole intact, but he took his first L of the season in SuperPole when he jumped off track. That gave the win and first gate selection to Rick Ware Racing’s Enzo Lopes.
Like Savatgy in SX1, Lopes carried his momentum from the afternoon into the night, grabbing the race one holeshot. He led the first lap; the first lap of the season not led by Max Anstie so far this season. Anstie put that momentum to an end quickly, making an aggressive pass for the lead on lap two. Enzo kept the 99 in check for much of the race, but it was more of what we have seen all season with Anstie inching away and taking a comfortable victory to start the night.
Behind them, defending champion Shane McElrath and Coty Schock battled for the final podium spot. Schock held the position to start, but McElrath, who has had a difficult start to the series, was able to make the move and the two went back and forth. As they battled, it allowed MCR’s Cullin Park into the fight. Park was able to take advantage of a big mistake by Shane in a rhythm lane and move into fourth. He made a late push and was able to get to rear wheel of Schock’s Rick Ware Racing/Club MX Yamaha, but Schock held on for the position.
Race two started exactly how race one ended with Anstie and Lopes 1-2 while Park and Schock resumed their battle for third. Park controlled third until he missed the triple, allowing Schock by. Moments later Lopes crashed out of second in the whoops and eventually exited the race.
Around halfway, Schock had a couple of very bad laps dropping him all the way back to sixth. That allowed McElrath into the third spot, and he went after Park late but ran out of time. Schock was able to regroup and make his way back to fourth which kept him in the mix for the overall podium.
In the twelve-lap final it was Shane McElrath grabbing the holeshot ahead of Stark’s Michael Hicks and Max Anstie. Anstie made quick work of Hicks and began to go after McElrath. Shane held strong, leading past the halfway point but Anstie eventually got by and kept his perfect season going. This was McElrath’s best effort of the season, and Anstie’s biggest challenge thus far.
After the race, Anstie spoke with Pulp MX’s Steve Matthes about the advantages of doing the full WSX series. “Doing these races is so good because not every weekend can be perfect. I am always searching for that magic. So, for me to be able to turn it on, make some good passes, and have some good motos, and man it was a hot one [weather] out there. That threw another wrench in the works. It was taking its toll. Overall, performance was good and I am looking forward to next week in Sweden.”
The battle for the final spot on the overall podium continued between Coty Schock and Cullin Park. Schock held third early, but Park was able to get the better of him. Park had a clear advantage between the two in the whoops and that ended up being the edge Cullin needed to nab his first overall podium of the season.
Venum/Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Kyle Peters was able to finish the night with a fifth in race three, taking advantage of some misfortune from Hicks on the last lap. Peters’ teammate Cole Thompson strung a quiet, consistent night together for fifth overall. Lopes did go back out for race three but ended up with another DNF.
Anstie has a commanding 28-point lead over Schock in the series standings, but it’s the battle for second that is going to heat up over the last few rounds. Schock holds a 12-point advantage over McElrath and Park is just five points further back. Lopes’ tough night pushed him back to sixth in the series standings, 30 behind his teammate.
The Series’ resumes next weekend in Stockholm, Sweden. The focus will now turn to the Championship battle, as there will be no big-name Wild Card riders at the remaining two rounds.
