The new FIM World Supercross Championship is taking shape, with Australian promoters SX Global revealing the first four exclusive team licences.
Three of the newly-announced teams are already established, with MotoConcepts Honda, Bud Racing Kawasaki and GSM Yamaha having previous experience in a number of championships. The fourth team, Pipes Motorsports, will be backed by Suzuki and led by former racer Dustin Pipes.
Only ten exclusive team licences will be issued, with the private-ownership model being a first for the motocross and supercross industry. The promoters have compared the new structure to sports like Formula 1 and MotoGP.
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The new model is expected to enable a host of commercial opportunities on both a regional and global level, while it will also help raise the value of each team.
According to SX Global, more than 40 ownership applications were made, with the final 10 teams representing six different manufacturers.
A schedule for the series has also been leaked, with an Australia-based round potentially taking place around October 21-22. Interestingly, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island is scheduled for October 16.
Other locations on the list include Montreal (Sep 10), UK (Oct 1) and Indonesia (Nov 5), while the fifth and final round was listed as TBA. A 2023 provisional schedule was also included, featuring extra races in USA, ‘Scandinavia’, France, Middle East, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.
The calendar was posted by US journalist and Pulp MX host Steve Matthes to his Instagram page, but it is unclear where the information was sourced from.