Cycle News Staff | October 10, 2022
The opening round of the newly formed FIM World Supercross Championship kicked off over the October 7-10 weekend in Cardiff, Wales for the British Grand Prix. Forty riders from 10 teams took to the track inside Principality Stadium where the three-race format went down in both SX1 and SX2 classes. In the end, Americans Eli Tomac and Shane McElrath came out on top with their individual overall wins.
This year’s two-round pilot season will set the stage for what is to be expected a much-expanded championship in 2023.
SX1
Entered on his usual Star Racing Yamaha YZ450F, Tomac was listed as a wild-card, meaning he wasn’t racing with one of the series registered teams and also not planning on doing both rounds in the championship. None of that seemed to matter though as the number-three went on to sweep all three main events on Saturday night. Tomac had some excitement in all three races, which included leader Ken Roczen going down in the first race.
“All three mains were a little bit different,” Tomac said. “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.”
Roczen, in his first race as a non-Honda HRC Team rider, clocked in first as he set the fastest time through the night’s one lap Superpole qualifier on a Genuine Honda-backed motorcycle. He led early on in main event one but washed the front end on the slick racing surface. This handed the lead and the momentum over to Tomac, as Roczen went on to finish second overall with 3-2-4 scores.
“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,” Roczen said. “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.”
Vince Friese used consistency to land on the final step of the podium. The Motoconcepts Honda rider logged a best result of second in the first race and finished third and fifth in the second and third main events. The shorter sprint races suited Friese’s style as he ran up front all night on the hard-packed track.
“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,” said Friese. “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.”
SX2
Consistency proved key for Shane McElrath as he took the overall win in the SX2 category without winning a race. Riding a Yamaha YZ250F for Rick Ware Racing, McElrath only landed on the podium once during the night with a third place in race two. His victory came from capitalizing on the competition and logging consistent 4-3-5 finishes throughout the three main events.
“This was a lot of work to get everything ready to go in minimal prep time, for a lot of guys,” said McElrath. “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.”
Chris Blose found himself second after the three main events. The American, riding a Kawasaki KX250 for Bud Racing, started things off strong with a second in the first race of the night. His results dropped as things wore on, logging a fourth and an eighth in the second and third main events. While other riders battled inconsistency, Blose finished inside the top 10 in every race, earning him second on the night.
“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,” said Blose. “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.”
Mitchell Oldenburg was arguably the fastest 250 rider during the night. He won the first main event of the night but a big crash in race two resulted in a 19th-place finish. He bounced back after the fall with a win in the final main, going 1-19-1.
“I put myself in a bad position on the jump after the guys around me on the start flinched and I fell for it,” said Oldenburg. “I came around bad and, in the chaos, I made a bad move and I’ve got to be smarter than that.” CN
OVERALL RESULTS
SX1
1. Eli Tomac (Yam) 1-1-1
2. Ken Roczen (Hon) 3-2-4
3. Vince Friese (Hon) 2-3-5
4. Justin Brayton (Hon) 4-6-3
5. Josh Hill (Yam) 5-7-7
SX2
1. Shane McElrath (Yam) 4-3-5
2. Chris Blose (Kaw) 2-4-8
3. Mitchell Oldenburg (Hon) 1-19-1
4. Carson Brown (Yam) 6-7-4
5. Aaron Tanti (Yam) 7-9-3
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