WSX launches as Tomac races to clean sweep

Eli Tomac dominated the inaugural WSX Championship event in Cardiff with a clean sweep of the three Grand Prix races.

The American rider was a wildcard for the British GP, which not only launched the new WSX series, but also revived the FIM World Supercross Championship.

Tomac was joined on the WSX podium by Ken Roczen and Vince Friese. Meanwhile, Shane McElrath topped the SX2 charts, with Chris Blose and Mitch Oldenburg the other placegetters.

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It was an action-packed start to the controversial series, which obtained the rights to the FIM World Supercross Championship after it was let go by AMA Supercross in 2021. The AMA has since launched its own SuperMotocross "World Championship" in a bid to fight back against the new "rebel" series.

The Australian-based SX Global (WSX promoters) team is determined to reinvent the supercross wheel, with a bunch of new initiatives and a worldwide approach inspired by Formula 1 and MotoGP.

A healthy crowd packed into Cardiff’s Principality Stadium for the opening round of what is now a two-round series. A potential Indonesian round was scrapped, with Melbourne set to host the finale in two week's time.

While organisers are hoping for a “full” season in 2023, the inaugural 2022 championship is being call a “pilot” season or, as Chad Reed called it, a “soft launch”.

All eyes will now turn to Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on October 21 and 22 for the second and final event of 2022. The Melbourne event is something of a showpiece for the organisers, who ran the popular AUS-X Open event at the same venue in 2019.

The Melbourne event is set to draw a reasonable crowd to the 55,000-seat stadium, with performances from Peking Duk and Bliss N Eso acting as additional drawcards. The Australian Supercross Championship will also be incorporated into the two-night event.

German-born superstar Ken Roczen will be the headline act, with Tomac not expected to lineup in Melbourne. Roczen has become the face of the new WSX series.

Roczen was dropped by the Honda HRC team after announcing plans to race in the inaugural WSX season. He has subsequently signed with Yarrive Konsky's Honda Genuine Racing team. Roczen will be joined by a cast of American stars, as well as a host of the best international riders.

However, there is a chance that Australian hero Chad Reed will not make the trip home, after his return to racing was cut short in Cardiff. Racing for MDK Motorsports, the two-time AMA Supercross champion suffered a heavy crash and extensive injuries. Popular Scottish rider, Dean Wilson, also announced he had suffered an injury.