WSX Canada: Results Round 1 Vancouver

The FIM Supercross World Championship has started with victories for Eli Tomac and Shane McElrath under the lights of BC Palace in Vancouver, Canada.

One of the features of the third season of the FIM Supercross World Championship has to do with the changes in the race format. Most of the sessions through the day had extra championship points at stake.

The top four from the WSX and SX2 qualifying sessions advanced to the SuperPole; a one-lap sprint session with points for the top three. Ken Roczen started with 5 points in his favor after he set the fastest time (50.742) followed by Eli Tomac (50.978) and Joey Savatgy (51.802) who got 3 and 1 point respectively.

Defending champion Max Anstie was best in the SX2 SuperPole with a time of 52.850 followed by Cole Thompson (52.946) and Coty Schock (53.292). All three started with 5, 3 and 1 extra points for the championship.

After the SuperPole followed the three Main Events of each class, in addition to a SuperFinal in which the top 8 overall of the three previous WSX and SX2 Main Events faced each other. In total, there were four scoring races that determined the positions of honor in both divisions.

WSX: ELI TOMAC WINS

RACE 1: Vince Friese secured the first 450 holeshot of the night, but a pair of Supercross titans in Roczen and Tomac lurked close behind. Never one to shy away from robust defensive riding, Friese held off Roczen who had to slow to avoid contact, allowing Tomac to slip through into second.

Tomac then made his attempt to get around Friese and after one unsuccessful move, made it stick. Roczen wasn’t going to take that lying down and cut underneath the pair of them to take the lead. After the halfway point, Tomac closed onto Roczen’s back wheel using much tighter lines, but eventually the German won out ahead of Tomac and Savatgy in third.

RACE 2: For the second headline race of the night, Tomac claimed the holeshot with Dean Wilson in second and Matt Moss in third. The big surprise was Roczen in 11th after a sluggish getaway.

After a promising start, Wilson crashed out, elevating Savatgy into second, but he dropped back soon after. Friese and Oldenburg occupied second and third as the resurgent Roczen’s comeback continued getting past them both in one corner.

Friese and Savatgy went into combat over second, but Oldenburg lurked behind and contact resulted in Friese crashing out. A rare mistake from Roczen – who’d climbed back from 11th to second – dropped the reigning champion all the way back down to 11th. Tomac eventually won by a whopping 22 seconds over Savatgy and Nichols.

RACE 3: A lengthy 12-lap race awaited the 450 riders and initially, it looked to be Tomac who held the advantage at Turn 1, but Friese then edged ahead before Roczen ducked underneath the pair of them. Making quick work of Friese, Tomac secured second and set about chasing after the #1 bike.

Yet more aggressive riding from Friese held off Savatgy, but the Fire Power Honda rider eventually passed, by which point he’d lost seven seconds to Tomac and Roczen. The leading pair, meanwhile, battled it out for the race lead and Tomac eventually finished ahead of Roczen and Savatgy.

SUPERFINAL: Seizing the advantage with the final holeshot of the night, Tomac exited Turn 1 of the first-ever mixed class SuperFinal ahead of Friese and Roczen. Wary of more tactics from Friese, Roczen made a point of getting past as quickly as possible over the whoops.

Try as he might, Roczen was unable to make any inroads into Tomac’s advantage, who extended his gap to a mammoth 16 seconds. Such was his advantage that he was able to run for the final half a lap and cross the line with a flat rear tyre. Roczen followed him home in second while Nichols muscled past Friese to finish third on the road.

PODIUM:

1. #3 Eli Tomac (CDR Yamaha) 2-1-1-1
2. #1 Ken Roczen (PMG Suzuki) 1-11-2-2
3. #17 Joey Savatgy (FirePower Honda) 3-2-3-5

SX2: SHANE MCELRATH WINS!

RACE 1: Race 1 was not only the first of the night, but of the 2024 WSX season and of three SX2 races at the Canadian GP. The holeshot belonged to Anstie, who had the remarkable 19-year-old Kingsford and Thompson in tow. Schock slotted into fourth and Lopes into fifth while McElrath languished down in 10th.

Kingsford clung to the back of Anstie’s coattails in the early laps but dropped back as the race progressed, while Kyle Chisholm and Cullin Park went into battle on Lap 5, the latter snatching sixth place.

By the chequered flag, McElrath had vaulted up to seventh, but it was Anstie who took the first victory of the night ahead of Kingsford and Thompson.

RACE 2: It was Chisholm’s holeshot in Race 2, but McElrath got himself alongside and the pair went handlebar-to-handlebar for the first few corners before he deftly took the lead. Further back, Anstie slotted into fourth but quickly passed Viney for third.

On Lap 2, Anstie overhauled Chisholm to move into second, while Schock was on the move and followed Anstie through to third. The Brit then set about bridging the four-second gap to McElrath, but as he got close he spun up his rear wheel on corner exit and dropped back. Eventually, it was McElrath who sealed the victory ahead of Anstie and Schock.

RACE 3: In the first 12-lap contest of the night, McElrath headed the field out of Turn 1 while Chisholm got another great start in second and Anstie slotted into third. It wouldn’t last though, as the Brit fell off on the rhythm section of Lap 1. With Chisholm also dropping back, that allowed Lopes into second and Schock not far behind in third.

Rick Ware Racing team-mates Schock and Lopes then went into combat for second, a battle Schock won but crashed out of shortly after, elevating Canadian home favourite Thompson up to third.

The fallen front runners of Anstie and Schock then fought over eighth, but Anstie would fall yet again, dropping even further back. Both riders would recover well though, with Schock crossing the line in sixth and Anstie in ninth. Further forward, McElrath took his second win of the night ahead of Lopes and Thompson.

SUPERFINAL: Amidst the chaos of a mixed class start, it was Anstie who emerged at the head of the SX2 runners at the start of WSX’s first SuperFinal. McElrath was close behind though, and piled the pressure on the reigning champion early on, but he had to quickly switch focus to fend off his Fire Power Honda team-mate Thompson behind.

Five laps into the 12-lap race, Anstie crashed out of the lead handing the SX2 victory to McElrath, second to Enzo Lopes and third to Schock who kicked off his rookie campaign with an admirable performance.

PODIUM:

1. #12 Shane McElrath (FirePower Honda) 2-1-1-6
2. #1 Max Anstie (Star Racing Yamaha) 1-2-9-7
3. #6 Cole Thompson (FirePower Honda) 3-4-3-10

POINTS STANDINGS

Top 10 WSX Standings

1. #3 Eli Tomac (CDR Yamaha) 100pts
2. #1 Ken Rozcen (PMG Suzuki) 84
3. #17 Joey Savatgy (FirePower Honda) 79
4. #45 Colt Nichols (PMG Suzuki) 74
5. #4 Vince Friese (MCR Honda) 65
6. #49 Mitchell Oldenburg (RWR) 61
7. #20 Greg Aranda (GSM Yamaha) 54
8. #102 Matt Moss (CDR Yamaha) 52
9. #945 Anthony Bourdon (BUD Kawasaki) 32
10. #21 Ryan Breece (MCR Honda) 31

Top 10 SX2 Standings

1. #12 Shane McElrath (FirePower Honda) 89
2. #1 Max Anstie (Star Racing Yamaha) 79
3. #6 Cole Thompson (FirePower Honda) 79
4. #16 Enzo Lopes (RWR) 76
5. #69 Coty Shock (RWR) 74
6. #11 Kyle Chisholm (PMG Suzuki) 59
7. #21 Ryder Kingsford (CDR Yamaha) 52
8. #41 Kaleb Barham (CDR Yamaha) 50
9. #43 Cullin Park (MCR Honda) 35
10. #141 Maxime Desprey (GSM Yamaha) 34