SX2 structure declared ‘open’ as world championship category

Section: Competition Post: Alex Gobert

Designed for for riders to extend their careers and maintain relevance.

The structure of the SX2 category in FIM World Supercross has been declared as ‘open’ in terms of rider eligibility, complete with world championship status.

Season 2022 will mark the first time that the 250 class has been run as a world championship in supercross, which will be within the new series under the management of SX Global.

Without regulations that either restrict competitors in age or through points thresholds, it’s been introduced in a bid to offer ‘significantly increased freedom and flexibility for teams in selecting riders, while also increasing competitive and professional opportunities for riders looking to extend their careers and maintain relevance’.

“An official FIM world championship for 250cc riders is something that’s been a long-time coming in our sport and with the truly global nature of our series, it just made sense to finally make it a reality for WSX as we move into this new era of global supercross competition,” said Adam Bailey, SX Global’s managing director – Motorsport.

“We want to ensure that the 250cc (SX2) class features the best talent the world has to offer and, to achieve that, we are opening it up to all competitors regardless of age or past success. There have been numerous examples of limitations on 250cc class eligibility pushing high-level talent out of the sport or into compromising scenarios that impede their career progression and earning potential.

“We want to ensure we’re doing everything we can to give supercross athletes the best possible career opportunities and increased longevity. A rider-first commitment is core to SX Global’s mission and we feel this is the right move for the sport and its competitors.”

SX Global president Tony Cochrane commented: “An overview of virtually every successful sport or racing series around the world will tell you that success is driven by the stars – the athletes putting their talents on the line.

“To be honest, expanding opportunity for athletes as a strategy for business growth isn’t all that innovative, it just hasn’t been the case in supercross. It makes complete sense that our emphasis would be on elevating opportunities and potential outcomes for our teams and riders.”

Hangtown Thoughts

5 Quick Thoughts Following Hangtown

by Slaw DogJune 6, 2022, 8:34 am

Hangtown racing was amazing. The streaming from Hangtown was great… for two motos. I won’t bore you with a long intro you probably won’t read anyway, so let’s dive right in to some quick thoughts from round 2 of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. 

Anderson, Finally

It blows my mind that Jason Anderson hadn’t won an overall prior to Hangtown—in ANY class outdoors—since turning pro in 2011. Dude has won two supercross titles and yet, had never tasted that sweet nectar of victory outdoors. And it’s not like he sucks outdoors. Nah. You see him, as Broc Glover would say, surfing those rollers and shit at Hangtown? Amazing. 

Even funnier? Anderson didn’t even know he had won until after the race. His mechanic put “You did it” on his pit board, but Anderson thought he meant he got a podium!!!!!

“I’ll probably just go grab some dinner tonight,” he said. “It’s been a really long time, and I’m really excited I don’t have to hear about not having that outdoor win yet. That’s pretty nice. I’m stoked and I’m really happy with my riding and it gives me more motivation. I’m going to try to keep the ball rolling.”

Sexton Is My Title Favorite

Yeah, he didn’t win either moto, but damn did Chase Sexton show some heart in both motos. He led a LOT in both, got passed late, but guess what? He didn’t give in. Hell nah. He tried super hard to track down Anderson in moto one and then Eli Tomac in moto two. Dude is blazing fast and through two rounds has eliminated the mistakes that cost him in supercross. Will he win the title? I don’t know, but he’s my favorite after two rounds. 

The 250 Class Has a Jett Problem

Two rounds and two wins for Jett. Further, dude was throwing up between motos at Hangtown (NOT COVID) and still won the damn overall. Gritty performance from the defending champ. And honestly, if you are the rest of the 250 Class, you have to be kicking yourself for not taking advantage at Hangtown. Also, gritty performance from Hunter, who was also sick. 

CAIROLI!!!!!

How fing rad was this!!!!!

Nice Rebound From Cooper

Cooper Dog was off the bike for a damn long time and it showed at Fox Raceway where he got 12th overall. Not at Hangtown. He ran up front all day and took second overall. He’s only going to get stronger as the series rolls along, but he’s gonna need to start clicking off some wins if he wants this title. 

Hard Enduro Series Germany

Hangtown Results Video

Hangtown Qualifing

Anderson, Cooper lead Hangtown Pro Motocross qualifying

Post: Alex Gobert

Times set in the 250MX session the fastest of all this morning.

Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson led the charge in 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross qualifying at Hangtown this morning, as Justin Cooper was quickest of all in 250MX.

A late lap from Anderson in the final qualifier saw him climb into P1, posting a 2m06.296s to edge Chase Sexton’s (Team Honda HRC) time set in the earlier session.

Third and fourth featured Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha duo Eli Tomac and the in-form Christian Craig, with Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) filling the top-five. This morning marked the return of Joey Savatgy on debut at Monster Energy Kawasaki for this season at least, immediately on-pace in sixth on combined times.

The top 10 also included Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM) in the second appearance of his comeback, Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), nine-time world champion Tony Cairoli (Red Bull KTM) and Shane McElrath (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna).

Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper was the benchmark in 250MX, his time of 2m05.812s a second clear of defending champion and red plate-holder Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC).

Third was Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC), despite being quickest in the second session with a time in the 2m08s, from Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) the top-five.

Positions six through 10 included Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Jo Shimoda and Seth Hammaker, as well as Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki) and Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas). The track was much slower in class during the final outing this morning, with Jett Lawrence down the order in 14th place during Q2.

Tomorrow...Hangtown

Triumph MX?

PRODUCT NEWS

News: Triumph Testing

Lewis Phillips June 1, 2022 

The greatest motocross rider of all time, Ricky Carmichael, and five-time enduro world champion Iván Cervantes, spent the last week with the Triumph motocross and enduro team in the UK.

Receiving a warm welcome from Triumph employees, Ricky and Iván took the time to meet some passionate Triumph fans, before deep diving into development workshops with the design team and testing the latest prototypes, continuing in their unique role of providing invaluable feedback and input into the project.

Ricky Carmichael: “It has been a pleasure to finally come to the Triumph headquarters. Meeting everyone in all of the departments, seeing how it all works and getting to put the names to faces of those that I have been working with for so long. I have been incredibly impressed throughout the project, right from my first test with the team in the US, and it’s great to see how much progress they made to this point. To see the masterminds at work, and the dedication and motivation from everyone has been absolutely incredible. The sky is the limit and I believe everyone’s hard work on this project will mirror the level of the Triumph brand. It is an exciting time to be a part of this historic project!”

Iván Cervantes: “For me, this is a huge moment. We have tested the bike many times, but it was wonderful to ride with Ricky in person, and so satisfying to see how happy he is with the set-up we have developed. We have made some very big steps and some very productive changes, and I’m very happy with where we are. I have worked for a long time on this project with an amazing team, who all share the same goal: To be competitive from the very beginning. I cannot wait for the next steps.”

Steve Sargent (Chief Product Officer): “It was a pleasure to have both Ricky and Ivan with us for a whole week and to continue to take full advantage of their experience with the development of our off-road prototypes. Having both legendary motorcycle racers together to contribute to such a crucial phase of the bike’s development is invaluable. Together we share a single-minded ambition to launch motorcycles that are 100% capable of winning, that bring something new and different to riders in both worlds, that encompass all of Triumph’s expertise and capability, and that leverage everything Ricky and Ivan know about winning and developing bikes that deliver consistently race after race.”

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Forkner Out...Shoulder Injury

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki announced today that Austin Forkner will need to miss some time of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship as Forkner will undergo a "reparative" procedure on his shoulder. The team stated that Forkner sustained the shoulder injury in preparation for the 2022 Pro Motocross campaign and will remain on the sidelines until he makes a full recovery.

Forkner had fared well at the opening round last weekend at Fox Raceway where the 23-year-old finished sixth overall in the 250 class after going 6-6 in the motos. Forkner had broken his collarbone earlier this year during Monster Energy AMA Supercross when he and Jett Lawrence collided at the Arlington Supercross in February, but Forkner returned to racing before the season was over and even won the Foxborough Supercross. 

No definitive timetable has been placed on when we might see Forkner return to racing, but we hope for the best as he recovers and will provide further updates when they are available.

Is Honda Back on Top?

HONDA’S A FAST STARTER (JASON WEIGANDT)

I can’t really make any sense of this data. Team Honda’s glory days, with Dave Arnold and Roger De Coster at the helm, began in 1982 and essentially ended when the last dominant rider of that generation, Jeremy McGrath, left at the end of 1996 (by then Arnold and De Coster had already moved on, but McGrath and company were keeping winning traditions alive). The brand signed Ricky Carmichael for the 2002 season and Ricky, being Ricky, won just about everything in front of him for his three seasons on red, but beyond RC, who proved he can and will win on anything, Honda has tried and tried to get back to the promised land, but can never quite get there.

Here’s the data that is so weird: in season after season, Honda gets off to a hot start. Ezra Lusk winning early in ’98. An entire army of Honda riders getting off to a hot start in ’99 (Lusk won the first two AMA Supercross rounds, and Honda went 1-2-3-4-5 at the AMA Motocross opener, led by Sebastian Tortelli’s incredible 1-1). Carmichael’s success after that was end-to-end, but after that Honda enjoyed the riches of the GEICO Honda 250 program, getting riders like Trey Canard, Justin Barcia, and Eli Tomac into the mix. Again, those guys would win early and often. Like in 2013 when Canard nearly won the supercross opener after a huge battle with Davi Millsaps, and then a rookie Barcia won round two. They were arguably the two best riders at the start of that season, they couldn’t maintain it. Two years later, Tomac crushed the start of the 2015 Pro Motocross campaign, but he crashed out of it at round three. Then came the Roczen era, with many early season wins and lots of time with the red plate, but no titles. That includes this very season itself, when Roczen and Chase Sexton pulled away from the field at Anaheim 1. They only ended up with one race win each. Now we have another early-season Honda show, with Sexton and Roczen again pulling away from the field at Fox Raceway. One of these years has to be the year, right? Honda hasn’t won a 450 title since Carmichael left at the end of ’04.

It’s a strange thing. Honda has rotated through many bikes, team managers, technicians, mechanics, riders, and all during the last 18 years. You really can’t point to any one thing that leads to early-season success but no title at the end of the year. It’s just the way it goes, usually, and it’s a reminder to never get too excited or call the dawn of a new era too soon. We’ve been there before. So with Sexton and Roczen way ahead at round one (and the Lawrence brothers equaling it with a 1-2 in both 250 motos) things are certainly looking good for the Red Riders right now. Will we finally look back at this opener as the one where it finally turned around for good? Or is it just more of the same? It all makes this second round this weekend at Hangtown very important. 

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Honda had a huge day at the opener. Can they keep it rolling?

Hangtown Amateur Day

Bobby Austin from the Polka Dots MC flys the skys over the Hangtown track on a clear, cool day perfect for moto.