Following an exhilarating season-opener in Vancouver, Canada, the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) is down under for the 2024 , held at HBF Park in Perth.
WSX Canadian GP winner, Eli Tomac, led the way in practice on Saturday in the premier WSX 450cc class, producing a fastest time of 54.139 seconds for CDR Yamaha Supported by Star Racing. On his way to the top, Tomac outpaced Fire Power Honda’s Joey Savatgy while an impressive early performance from Team GSM saw Greg Aranda rank third.
Defending two-time WSX World Champion, Ken Roczen, completed the top five, separated from the top three by Dean Wilson on the second Fire Power Honda.
Qualifying
With practice complete, it was time for Qualifying – the first competitive session of the weekend where riders vie for a place in SuperPole for the chance to duel for an additional five World Championship points.
The results in Qualifying almost mirrored practice, with Tomac crucially maintaining his pace at the head of the field and outpacing his closest title rival, Roczen, who was only sixth.
In the timings, Savatgy remained as Tomac’s closest rival with second. Mitch Oldenburg bagged his position in SuperPole by setting the third-fastest time, just 0.023s short of Savatgy, while Aranda continued his impressive start to the 2024 WSX Australian GP in fourth, a further 0.030s down.
SuperPole
After trailing Tomac for most of the night, Savatgy staged an upstart performance in SuperPole, with the American coming out on top in the battle for the #1 gate pick.
On his way to the head of the field, Savatgy outpaced Aranda and Oldenburg with his 52.919s lap, leaving Tomac as his sole challenger. But when the CDR Yamaha Supported by Star Racing rider fell three-tenths short, it was advantage Savatgy. Behind Tomac, Oldenburg edged out Aranda, with the pair placing third and fourth.
WSX GP Race 01
WSX Wildcard rider, Kyle Webster, won the holeshot in GP Race 1 with Vince Friese, Luke Clout, and Tomac chasing the Aussie from the first lap onwards. SuperPole winner, Savatgy, meanwhile had a sluggish start in seventh, with Roczen just ahead in sixth.
While Webster held his own at the front, Tomac – who had an uncharacteristically slow getaway – rallied his efforts and quickly sliced his way through the pack to take the lead at mid-race distance.
The American opened a six-second advantage to claim victory at the flag, with Roczen claiming second after battling forward late in the race. Clout finished third to claim his first GP Race podium in the premier WSX 450cc class, with Savatgy and Fire Power Honda team-mate, Dean Wilson, completing the top five.
WSX GP Race 02
Tomac cruised to a dominant victory in GP Race 2 after winning the holeshot and taking the lead at the first opportunity. The eight-time AMA Motocross and Supercross champion was unchallenged throughout, although the battle for the runner-up spot was fierce.
GP Race 1 podium finisher, Clout, was Tomac’s closest contender before being overtaken by Savatgy on lap three, and while battling Roczen, came off his Rick Ware Racing bike when exiting the rhythm section.
With Roczen in the podium places, the German chased after Savatgy but was unable to overtake while Tomac, 10 seconds ahead, took his fifth win of the 2024 season. After his accident, Clout recovered to fourth while Oldenburg completed the top five.
WSX GP Race 03
In GP Race 3, Tomac resumed his offensive of the night by winning the holeshot for a second moto in a row, with Clout trailing the American once again on the first lap.
While Clout held his own in second, the battle for third raged behind him, with Friese, Savatgy, and Roczen scrapping it out at HBF Park.
When Savatgy and Roczen both overtook the MotoConcepts Racing rider and breezed past Clout on lap four, their fight was for second place, and with a diving move on the final lap, it was Roczen who came out on top.
The PMG rider finished as the runner-up behind Tomac who was four seconds up the track, with Savatgy in third. Clout was able to hold on to finish fourth, while Aranda completed the top five, converting his pace earlier in the evening into results.
SX2
SX2 – Practice
Enzo Lopes was fastest in SX2 practice for the WSX Australian GP, leading the field for Rick Ware Racing with a best lap of 55.552 seconds. Fire Power Honda’s Cole Thompson was his closest match by ranking second, while Shane McElrath, who won the WSX Canadian GP, left practice with the third-fastest time.
SX2 – Qualifying
After showing evident pace in practice, McElrath carried his speed into Qualifying to lead the session and carve his way into SuperPole, 0.077 seconds ahead of Lopes who set the second-fastest time. The Brazilian was trailed by Thompson who was third while series veteran, Maxime Desprey, delivered the highlight of the season so far for Team GSM by placing fourth.
SX2 – SuperPole
Saturday’s SX2 SuperPole session was a hard-fought affair as four titans of 250cc competition clashed in a single-lap shootout to decide who would secure the highly coveted #1 gate pick and an additional five World Championship points.
But after experiencing a resurgence in overall Qualifying, it was McElrath who came out on top again, taking pole position by more than half a second from team-mate Thompson with a 53.861s run – the fastest SX2 lap of the night. Lopes followed Thompson in third, with Desprey in fourth.
SX2 GP Race 01
In GP Race 1, SX2 rookie Coty Schock secured the first WSX GP Race win of his career by holding off a hard-charging McElrath in the first moto of the night.
Schock held third after the gate drop, with Thompson winning the holeshot and Wildcard rider, Kayden Minear – a Perth local – holding second. Schock battled hard to rise to the front and cleared Thompson for the lead on lap four before facing pressure from behind in the form of McElrath.
The battle was fierce but Schock held on, with McElrath finishing as the runner-up. Lopes, meanwhile, completed the top three for Rick Ware Racing, with Thompson fading to fourth. Desprey completed the top five.
SX2 GP Race 02
It was McElrath vs Schock for a second time in SX2 GP Race 2, with the pair battling lap after after lap after rising to the front of the field by securing a good getaway at the gate drop.
Over the course of the race, Schock held a narrow advantage over the chasing North Carolinian rider, although a costly crash for Schock in the rhythm section handed the lead to McElrath.
With Schock down in fifth, and his closest challengers more than four seconds away, McElrath cruised to a comfortable victory, with Lopes taking second and Thompson third.
SX2 GP Race 3
McElrath won the holeshot in GP Race 3, held the lead throughout, and charged to an unchallenged victory of almost five seconds, with Schock recovering from his crash earlier in the night to take home second.
The battle for third was hard fought between Lopes, Desprey, and Thompson, although after exchanging positions lap after lap, it was Lopes who came out on top to take the final step of the podium in the third moto of the night.
Thompson successfully overtake Desprey on the final lap, leaving the French Team GSM rider to complete the top five.
SuperFinal
In the FIM World Supercross Championship’s multi-class SuperFinal, the top eight riders from both the WSX and SX2 classes faced off, with Tomac, Savatgy, Roczen, Clout, Wilson, Oldenburg, Colt Nichols, and Friese representing the 450cc grid.
After being untouchable in every race prior, it was Tomac who won the holeshot although a quick start for Ken Roczen but the WSX points leader under immediate pressure.
While the PMG rider harried his title rival, a mistake on lap four cost Roczen dearly, and allowed the Tomac to streak ahead and claim the victory, executing a perfect evening after going 1-1-1-1.
Following the mistake, Roczen was forced into a quick recovery but held on for second place, with Dean Wilson claiming his first individual race podium of the 2024 season in third. Savatgy was fourth, while Clout completed the top five.
From an SX2 perspective McElrath, Schock, Lopes, Thompson, Cullin Park, Desprey, Kyle Chisholm, and Minear lined up on the grid as the top-eight riders on the 250cc grid.
All eight battled fiercely, but it was Schock who secured a lightning start to take the lead in his class, with McElrath and Lopes pushing hard behind.
Soon into the SuperFinal, McElrath successfully found his way past Schock, and by outpacing the Rick Ware Racing riders behind, was able to open up a healthy lead to ultimately challenge for a place inside the top five overall.
After 12 laps of hard racing, McElrath took the flag to secure the perfect evening, to claim the overall WSX Australian GP SX2 victory after going 1-1-1-1. Lopes, meanwhile, overtook Schock in the final laps to take second place, with his team-mate claiming third.
Thompson, who again had a competitive showing was fourth in the SuperFinal, with PMG’s Chisholm completing the top five.
As the sanctioning body of WSX, the FIM last night made a decision in relation to a race process error which occurred prior to Saturday’s 2024 WSX Australian GP (Round 2) Super Final.
Vince Friese (MotoConcepts Racing) was mistakenly included in the Super Final line up instead of Matt Moss (CDR Yamaha Supported by Star Racing). Such error was not due to the fault of any Rider, Team or WSX.
In accordance with FIM protocol, the FIM has since confirmed that the relevant race results still stand as completed despite this error.
Words and Images by WSX
