World Supercross Championship kicks off

The World Supercross Championship is officially off and running, with the first round of the six-round title getting underway in Birmingham, UK, on Saturday, July 1.

And it was fairy tale beginning for the current title holders in both the WSX and SX2 categories, with Germany’s Ken Roczen and USA’s Shane McElrath rocketing away for the overall win in their respective classes.

In WSX Roczen was joined on the podium by Americans Joey Savatgy and Vince Friese, while in SX2 McElrath stood between Britain’s Max Anstie and Brazil’s Enzo Lopes.

WSX

The night started perfectly for Roczen on his PMG Suzuki; he was fastest in warm-up and fastest in qualifying before winning his heat race by a comfortable margin to make it through to Superpole.

After Dean Wilson, Australia’s Matt Moss, Savatgy, and Friese had set their lap times, Justin Hill, aboard the BUD Racing Kawasaki, set Villa Park alight by going nearly a second quicker than anyone else. Roczen followed, but couldn’t top the performance, Hill taking the extra championship point.

A frenetic start to the opening main event saw Friese take an early lead on his MotoConcepts Honda from a flying Thomas Ramette. Hill and Roczen were third and fourth, and eventually made it past Ramette, before Roczen passed Hill and set off after Friese. However, the fans were denied a grandstand finish when Friese went down out of the lead. He still held on to second, with Hill third.

Roczen again gave himself work to do off the start in the second main event, while Friese hit the front and pulled away. The reigning champion reeled him in but was unable to find a way past and they took the chequered flag first and second. However, the pair were then penalised for jumping through a medical flag and demoted to third and fourth. As a result, Hill inherited the win, ahead of Rick Ware Racing’s Savatgy.

A battle at the front of the final main of the night saw Roczen, Friese, and Savatgy go bar-to-bar. Unfortunately for Friese he went down, as Roczen pulled away. Savatgy was second, ahead of home hero Wilson. Friese took the chequered flag in 10th.

“The track wasn’t super technical but it was hard tonight,” said Roczen. “And my starts weren’t where they needed to be so I gave myself some work and had to make some passes. With the races being so short you had to make a plan on the fly and pass when you could, and it got a bit close. But I was strong in the whoops and tried to stay low over the jumps. I had to push hard tonight, and we’ve got some areas where we want to get better.”

SX2

It was decided on a ‘best of three’ in the SX2 mains, with defending champion McElrath and 2022 runner up Anstie resuming their rivalry from last season, trading main event wins. Sadly for the Brit, Anstie was unable to deliver the overall for the home crowd, taking a brace of seconds on his Firepower Polyflor Honda to McElrath’s double victory aboard his Rick Ware Racing Yamaha.

Brazilian Lopes showed he’s going to be a force in this year’s championship, finishing third overall for Club MX FXR despite dislocating his shoulder in warm-up. Mixing it at the sharp end of the mains, he was twice third before a crash in the final race cost him another rostrum finish. He managed to salvage fourth – finishing behind Mitchell Oldenburg – to take third overall in the British GP.

“It’s good to start with a win,” McElrath said. “Rick [Ware – team owner] said he wants to win a championship and he wants me to do that for him. I said this is what I need and he’s made it happen. The Yamaha feels like my bike. I’ve ridden lots of bikes but the Yamaha suits me, it feels good, and it’s good of Rick to trust us as riders to deliver. I’m happy with tonight and it’s a good start to the season.”

Round two of the World Supercross Championship sees the title head to Lyon, France, on July 22. Head to the bikesales 2023 motorcycle racing calendar for details of all the remaining fixtures.

1. Ken Roczen, Germany, 69pts
2. Joey Savatgy, USA, 62
3. Vince Friese, USA, 53
4. Justin Hill, USA, 52
5. Dean Wilson, GBR, 51
6. Kyle Chisholm, USA, 43
7. Justin Brayton, USA, 41
8. Colt Nichols, USA, 39
9. Gregory Aranda, FRA, 36
10. Kevin Moranz, USA, 33
11. Josh Hill, USA, 32
12. Cade Clason, USA, 22
13. Anthony Rodriguez, VEN, 22
14. Cedric Soubeyras, FRA, 21
15. Cole Seely, USA, 20
16. Jordi Tixier, FRA, 18
17. Thomas Ramette, FRA, 17
18. Matt Moss, AUS, 10
19. Jack Brunell, GBR, 8
20. Charles Lefrancois, FRA, 7
21. Josh Cartwright, USA, 5
22. Grant Harlin, USA, 4

1. Shane Mcelrath, USA, 72pts
2. Max Anstie, GBR, 69
3. Enzo Lopes, BRA, 57
4. Mitchell Oldenburg, USA, 47
5. Kyle Peters, USA, 45
6. Maxime Desprey, FRA, 41
7. Aaron Tanti, AUS, 38
8. Henry Miller, USA, 36
9. Jace Owen, USA, 32
10. Cullin Park, USA, 29
11. Luke Clout, AUS, 29
12. Chris Blose, USA, 28
13. Max Miller, USA, 22
14. Anthony Bourdon, FRA, 22
15. Adrien Escoffier, FRA, 19
16. Hunter Yoder, USA, 16
17. Justin Bogle, USA, 14
18. Dylan Woodcock, GBR, 14
19. Gage Linville, USA, 13
20. Michael Alessi, USA, 12
21. Luke Neese, USA, 9