2022 FIM World Supercross Championship Results
A perfect score for Eli Tomac saw him win the inaugural FIM World Supercross Championship Grand Prix, which took place in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday night.
Tomac secured the WSX (450) class win with three GP race victories, while compatriot Shane McElrath took the overall honours in the SX2 (250) class.
The wait was finally over for world championship racing in the sport of supercross to finally go global, as fans packed into Wales’ national stadium in the heart of the country’s capital.
And the world class racing on display was only part of the show, as freestyle motocross shows, a live performance from music megastar AJ Tracey, and fireworks and pyrotechnics wowed crowds that had queued in their thousands.
Tomac – a wildcard this weekend – was third quickest in qualifying, behind Rick Ware Racing’s Joey Savatgy and pace-setter Ken Roczen.
Luke Clout’s campaign got off to a great start with the 27-year-old qualifying fifth but unfortunately Clout crashed heavily in the first final and didn’t race the Mains.
Roczen was shaping up to be the man to beat; winning his heat and setting the fastest lap in the night’s superpole session with a huge quad in the rhythm section wowing fans.
Unfortunately for the German, things began to unravel in the GP race main events. Leading the first of three he was caught out by the changing track conditions, crashing and handing the lead to Tomac. He recovered to finish third, behind fellow Honda pilot Vince Friese on the MotoConcepts machine.
It was a Tomac, Roczen one-two in the second of the three GP races, with the pair having to fight through the field, before Tomac made it three from three in the third to cap a perfect evening.
While Savatgy was second in the final race, the MotoConcepts outfit bagged two more GP race top-three finishes, with Friese and team-mate Justin Brayton taking a third apiece.
With all the points tallied up, Tomac was the clear winner, with Roczen and Friese completing the night’s podium.
1. Eli Tomac – 25-25-1-25 = 76
2. Ken Roczen – 1-20-22-18 = 61
3. Vince Friese – 22-20-16 = 58
Eli Tomac – P1
“To be honest I started off a little bit slow and Ken rode really well in that heat race and in the superpole I just never manned up for the quad, to be straight up. That thing was a big nope I was going to stay with the triple-single and it ended up working out.
“All three mains were a little bit different; obviously I got the gift from Ken in the first and then had to make a couple of passes in the second but I think the most technical part of the night was the dirt: it was tough, very hard pack. I actually almost fell in the third, near the mechanics in that last left-hander. But overall I just enjoyed the whole schedule and the racing.
“Coming in here I thought that the eight and 12-lap races were going to be a little short but that wasn’t easy and it obviously showcased some good racing and I had a lot of fun doing it. The World Supercross Championship is real: it was a real supercross and nothing was second level with it, it was all first class and it was great to see the big crowd here. It was really cool to see the stadium filled up. To be honest I was looking at it thinking this is a big stadium but I think we filled it pretty well.”
Ken Roczen – P2
“In my superpole lap I wasn’t quite as clean as I wanted to be in the beginning, but the quad was huge and I wasn’t really planning on it but I saw Josh [Hill] do it. What made it really nice though was that it set me up real nice for the turn because I didn’t have to do that single into it with how slippery it was.
“In that first main event, obviously things happened really quick but from what I could tell there was a tiny line or ledge and the angle I was coming in on, I just wasn’t set up for it. It was so minimal but it just happened so fast. I tried to save it but I couldn’t. It was a bit of a bummer because it felt like it was set up to be a really good race. But it was tough out there and you couldn’t really rely on anything out on track because the berms were really flat. But it made for some great racing tonight.”
Vince Friese – P3
“I had pretty good starts and sprinted really hard in the first two mains and that third one I kind of just managed the podium. I knew these guys were pretty quick all night and I didn’t really want to put up too much of a fight for that, I just secured the podium spot, as I had my eye on my teammate and a couple of the guys who were close on points with me but I got it done and I couldn’t be happier. It’s really cool to be in contention for the title but it’s just cool to even be on the podium with these two guys. It’s awesome for me and I’m trying to inch my way closer to their level. I’ve got a little bit to go but I’ve made some improvement.”
Josh Hill – P5
“It was a wild race! This format is super-quick and you don’t really have much time to recover. Although I didn’t have great starts, I managed to put myself in good positions over the first couple of laps, slowly picked guys off and didn’t make any big mistakes. To end up fifth overall was a good way to start the season being back with CDR Yamaha, my consistency paid off and it seemed like my speed was pretty good. I’m hoping at the next round in Melbourne I will be able to showcase a little bit more – the last time I raced there I was on the podium, so that’s the goal now.”
2022 FIM World Supercross Championship Points
WSX Round One
- Eli Tomac – 25-25-1-25 = 76
- Ken Roczen – 1-20-22-18 = 61
- Vince Friese – 22-20-16 = 58
- Justin Brayton – 18-15-20 = 53
- Josh Hill – 16-14-14 = 44
- Cedric Soubeyras – 9-18-15 = 42
- Joey Savatgy – 2-16-22 = 40
- Angelo Pellegrini – 15-8-13 = 36
- Adrian Escoffier – 10-13-9 = 32
- Thomas Ramette – 14-11-7 = 32
- Freddie Noren – 8-12-10 = 30
- Jordi Tixier – 6-9-12 = 27
- Ryan Breece – 11-7-8 = 26
- Anthony Bourdon – 7-6-11 = 24
- Jack Brunell – 12-5-5 = 22
- Cade Clason – 4-10-4 = 18
- Dean Wilson – 13-3-2 = 18
- Grant Harlan – 5-4-6 = 15
- Justin Starling – 3-2-3 = 8
- Luke Clout – 1-0-0 = 1
WSX Round One
1. Eli Tomac – 25-25-1-25 = 76
2. Ken Roczen – 1-20-22-18 = 61
3. Vince Friese – 22-20-16 = 58
SX2
In the SX2 category McElrath, who finished third in his heat race, took the overall victory for Rick Ware Racing and leads the championship standings by a single point after going fourth, third, fifth in the night’s three GP races, highlighting the importance of consistency in the World Supercross Championship’s main event format.
Chris Blose’s second place in the first GP race aboard his Bud Racing Kawasaki gave him a good haul of points that meant he would take second overall on the night, despite taking fourth and eighth place finishes in GP race two and three.
While finishing on the overall podium in third, MotoConcepts Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg will arguably be going home disappointed after winning the first and third GP races, but a disastrous second GP race – that saw him crash into the back of Pipes Motorsport’s Derek Kelly and take a heavy fall – cost him the overall victory on the night.
Home hero Max Anstie’s British Grand Prix got off to a perfect start, as he won his heat race, coming from behind to hit the front and pull away. The Honda Genuine Honda Racing rider also won the second GP race, but average starts left him with work to do in race one and three, and he could only manage 11th and 10th for sixth overall.
Shane McElrath – P1
“Winner of the first ever World Supercross Championship SX2 race has a pretty good ring to it. This was a lot of work to get everything ready to go in minimal prep time, for a lot of guys. Coming here was like, okay, we’re all kind of starting from the same level, and the track was really good. I felt good on the bike and we were really learning every time out there. Here for the first ever world supercross event has been a blast and there’s been some really good competition, really good racing between our class and the WSX class, and I’m very excited for the future of this. It’s big.”
SX2 Round One
1. Shane McElrath – 18-20-16 =54
2. Chris Blose – 22-18-25 = 53
3. Mitch Oldenburg – 25-2-25 = 52
Chris Blose – P2
“I raced this format in 2019 at the Aus X Open so I was a little familiar with it but it was very similar and very chaotic, and you’ve got to be on it in the main events. I think everyone up here had one bad race and it’s just trying to eliminate those, recover in between the main events. But you know what, being here has been an awesome opportunity and I’m very thankful, and I’m looking forward to the future of the World Supercross Championship, and the many more rounds that are going to come.”
Mitch Oldenburg – P3
“I need to be smarter than that bone headed move on my part. I put myself in a bad position on the jump after the guys around me on the start flinched and I fell for it. I came around bad and in the chaos I made a bad move and I’ve got to be smarter than that. But I really enjoyed myself in Cardiff and I had a lot of fun here this weekend. It’s been a blast from the get go and I’m really looking forward to Australia.”
Aaron Tanti – P5
“I felt good from the get-go in practice and then in qualifying I made a few little mistakes, before in the heat race I had that little tip-over and it cost me massively. The gates on the outside were so far out and, although I got awesome jumps out of the gate, the guys just beat me into the corner and it was chaotic from there. My riding was good in all of the mains and it was awesome to finish inside the top three in that last one to push me up in the points for a top-five result overall. It’s a good spot to be and I know where we stand going into the Melbourne round.”
2022 FIM World Supercross Championship Points
SX2 Round One
- Shane McElrath – 18-20-16 =54
- Chris Blose – 22-18-25 = 53
- Mitch Oldenburg – 25-2-25 = 52
- Carson Brown – 15-14-18 = 47
- Aaron Tanti – 14-12-20 = 46
- Max Anstie – 10-25-11 = 46
- Derek Kelley – 12-15-14 = 41
- Maxime Desprey – 9-22-7 = 38
- Wilson Todd – 8-16-9 = 33
- Matt Moss – 20-0-10 = 30
- Dylan Walsh – 16-11-2 = 29
- Cole Seely – 4-1-1-22 = 28
- Justin Bogle – 0-13-15 = 28
- Phil Nicoletti – 11-8-6 = 25
- Jace Owen – 2-9-12 = 23
- Lorenzo Camporese – 13-3-5 = 21
- Henry Miller – 7-6-4 = 17
- Dilan Schwartz – 6-7-3 = 16
- Kyle Chisholm – 0-4-8 = 12
- Derek Drake – 1-10-0 = 11
- Dylan Woodcock – 3-5-0 = 8
- Thomas Do – 5-0-1 = 6
