A perfect score for Eli Tomac saw him win the inaugural FIM World Supercross (WSX) Championship Grand Prix, which took place in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. The American secured the WSX (450) class win with three GP race victories, while compatriot Shane McElrath took the overall honors 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. And it was Roczen who 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 him, things began to unravel for the German 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 teammate 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.
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.
Australian superstar Chad Reed’s return to competitive racing was, sadly, cut short, the former world champion crashing heavily in his heat race. He sat out the rest of the night’s action, with a view to making a return at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia in two week’s time.
