IMO best SX racing we've seen in a while, and I think it makes sense why:
1. WSX has quirky track build/design. In South Africa, we saw a bunch of unique rhythm lanes, with awkward spacing, that a. gave riders multiple options (i.e. the elevated ramp for final rhythm lane creating 2 options) b. caused mistakes bc the jumps weren't uniformly spaced
2. WSX has perfect bowl corners that are small in size but wide enough to allow a ton block passing opportunity. AMA has jumbo bowl corners that give riders endless room to get out of the way or rail the outside because the rider in pursuit has too much distance to cover in the turn to reach the rider in time
3. AMA tracks are jumbo with regards to rhythms which causes "Glendale" Effect where the track theoretically looks very technical but because the jumps are so big and spaced out, every rider has a huge ramp and thus time to get enough speed to make the jump. Basically because of the uniform/large spacing, the rhythms become a bunch of "Supercross Triples" whereas in WSX you have tighter, smaller rhythms plus uneven spacing that forces riders to get their timing right, otherwise they case the rhythm
4. WSX has safer tracks. Even if the riders case more because the jumps are tighter together and a bit smaller, when they crash it's not as high speed or from as high elevation
5. WSX has better whoops. IDK if it is because of lyme, but the whoops held up pretty much every round except Sweeden which caused blitzing to be the only viable option. Further, the whoops were big enough and spaced wide enough that there was clear differentials between those who could blitz fast versus slow.
6. Arguably the most interesting was the lack of toughblocks plus paper design. The reason the final WSX race was so good, was because when Jason Anderson went off track he didn't run into a foam toughblock. This meant he could 1. accelerate/zip right back onto the track in corners/straightaways (when Joey pushed him over the berm) 2. not crash when he went off in the rhythm lane, in AMA he would've got stuck in the foam because literally there is no gap in the toughblocks, whereas in WSX there are fewer, more spaced out toughblocks that are easy to crush because they are carboard/paper, so a rider can simple ride over it
The last point is important because, that's what allows a race to continue. In AMA, one mistake and the battle is over, but in WSX the rider can go off track without losing a ton of time allowing them to quickly catch back up, or simply avoid a crash (like getting stuck in a tough block and DNF-ing due to debris getting stuck).
Would love to hear y'alls thoughts on these takes.
The last race was awesome because the 2 lead riders had enough respect for each other to race as hard as hell without cleaning each other out.
The dust was so annoying. I can’t imagine how the riders felt. Shit was hard to see on my TV!
Now I understand why AMA said “Dust is the new enemy” and why they soften the tracks and rip them so deep.
I feel like if Monster Energy Supercross wasn’t in 3 weeks, they might have taken each other out. This was for the WSX championship but the real focus is US races. I like WSX but we have to be realistic, there was like 3 contenders per class. US races have around 7 contenders per class. The 250 races felt like Anstie & McElrath were in the wrong league. A level above everyone
It's not supposed to be better than AMA SX. It's a series that riders can ride after the AMA season is done and still make money while fans around the world get to see great racing and riders they never have historically.
Anyhow, WSX this year rocked, excited for 2026!
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I went to the Gold Coast round and the track surface and prep was terrible. It needed more water when they built it and every rider said it was skatey as. The racing was great but track prep was concrete.
Sweden round was a joke worst track Ive ever seen.
And SA needed water too.
Also how can you pay Tomac, Deegan, Kenny etc $200k a round and make money.
Unless the governments are kicking in I cant see how it survives.
Gold Coast round roughly 25,000 attended x $77 a ticket $1,925,000.
Hire stadium, build track, freight bikes etc etc
Dust is bad for riders, fans in the stands and, last but not least, stadiums. Stadiums will not only charge the producer a ton of $$$ for cleaning, they will be reluctant to welcome SX in the future (unless they are starving for business and/or owned by communities financially supporting the Event, which was generally the case for this WSX series)... Dust can occasionally favorise racing though , as was the case in Australia and, to a lesser degree, in Cape Town.
Here is some good news. WSX just signed Cape Town up for 2026.
I thought the poor dirt conditions provided for excellent racing. Ultimate traction and big ruts isn’t necessarily a good thing.
You nailed 1 thing very well. El Hombre was able to fully accelerate while off track without issues or penalties, I'm sure he appreciated that 😁
Do they have a water embargo over there? Local tracks do a better job of prep than this “world” series.
Also what happened to CC? A couple weeks ago a bunch of people acted like he would be a title contender in SX. He gets dropped multiple times by Joey and Anderson?
Yea, it was a tad dusty. Made for great , technical racing which is what we all want, no? Supercross and ripped deep aren't words that need to go together.
Saw him on the ground a couple of times
Big difference here is AMA SX all tracks are designed then submitted and reviewed by teams and Feld together prior to the season. They prefer predictability in building them, jump height, spacing, how whoops are built, etc. because then they can practice on it and know what they are getting into. While I agree I like the randomness of tracks, seems teams don’t. The sample size for “safe” tracks was 4 rounds and one round was just so bad that they couldn’t jump much. So take that for what it’s worth.
May biggest takeaway was the simple fact, especially in this last Round, that the FIM does absolutely nothing it seems when Riders go off the Track in practically every SX1 Race & nothing happens. The QuadLock Mgr. should’ve been Protesting Anderson. It was ridiculous to me & it kept happening even in SX2.
Going off the track, skipping sections, not re-entering the Track where you went off, etc., is Officiating being asleep at the wheel. I’m sure Anderson’s Team thought he’d get docked, especially when going off the Track in that 1 Race that was his own fault, yet nothing was done. Anderson just shot back on Track skating the rhythm's & shot back on almost into Joey, yet not dinged points or a position at all. That to me & my yrs was DUMB!!
My observation of the WSX tracks, maybe not Argentina, but it seemed like the other 4 tracks were a good 3-5 feet wider everywhere which I thought opened things up a bit for the riders to move around and make passes.
A little bit of dust didn't bother me but Xavier a few posts above mine made a good point about perhaps cleaning up the stands after the dust settles.
i think the biggest thing that helped the tracks , is they had only 32 riders total, where the ama ones have 80 in the night show alone,
also, having less track markers/ tuff blocks made the tracks look wider,
Pit Row
Huh, less tuff blocks made the track look wider is what you are saying?
Well, I wish Blair would have taken a tape measure to the track so we can see if it was just an optical illusion
Yea the way that ama sx has all triples, doubles, table tops the same exact height and distance at every race makes it so everything is copy paste. Theres never any surprises or new timing to learn. They really need to mix it up the way it is now its like mx vs atv track editor. Not every triple should be the exact same length no matter what year it is.
Am I crazy in thinking rutted SX is more dangerous than hard pack? Dust aside, hard pack tracks have provided the best racing and WSX just proved it again.
Bring back blowing up berms.
You could definitely tell the lappers weren’t in the way at the end of races. Track reminded me of old Las Vegas final rounds.
Plenty of businesses I patronize that I do not give shit one about their finances or care how they make money, none of my business. I like the coffee at my local coffee, I like WSX , I have no idea or care about their finances, I won't let that diminish my enjoyment of their products.
I did appreciate the different track surfaces and prep at the different rounds. Something I think AMA SX has lost as they try to homogenize the obstacles and track prep.
Nice to see the teams have to think through bike setup and riders adapt to different conditions.
Sure looked extremely dry to me. I'm surprised there's not more talk about it. Seems like they should of had way more water added during the build and during the hours of down time.
Only issues I had was that it was a bit dry and dusty and Kristen Beat saying that the riders she talked to hadn't seen a dragons back in 15 -20 yrs....WTF was she talking about??
The racing was good I think they found their niche in being an off season series.
They still need to find smaller stadiums.
No you're not, I agree with you. In Sweden I was scared for everyone, the rest of the rounds, not too much.
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