Year three of the modern era of the World Supercross Championship (WSX) opens with a first-ever round in Vancouver, Canada, this weekend. With a lot of change in the air, Rewind looks back at how the series advanced to this point following its polarising overhaul a few short years ago.

Following an ownership change, now featuring only seven full-time teams – reduced from 10 – and with four rounds (including a double-header in Perth) slated for 2024, the WSX series is fighting on despite its largely checkered past few years.

2022 proved to be a pivotal year in the history of WSX, when the Australian owners of the successful AUS-X Open, Adam Bailey and Ryan Sanderson, formed SX Global intending to take top-level supercross worldwide.

There were bold plans to quickly expand from a brief pilot series to as many as 10 races, all while introducing rapid-fire racing formats, a unique team licensing system, and a lucrative prize pool. It almost sounded too good to be true, particularly at that stage with former V8 Supercars and entertainment supremo Tony Cochrane calling the shots in ultra-confident fashion.

After months of build-up and speculation, the pilot season got underway that July in Cardiff, Wales, with wildcard Eli Tomac getting the better of Ken Roczen in the WSX class, and Shane McElrath staying consistent to take the SX2 win. Sure, there was a share of teething issues that you’d expect with any start-up on debut, but the potential was evident as they quickly got WSX off the ground.

The second and final round of the inaugural season took place at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, in an event that doubled as the Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) decider over a two-day format.

Image: Foremost Media.

Seeing as it was effectively a home round for the Gold Coast-based SX Global and Bailey/Sanderson had held a successful event at that very venue in 2019 prior to the pandemic, the whole package was much-improved and the back-to-back-to-back finals resulted in tight on-track action.

While Joey Savatgy took the final win, it was Roczen who claimed the WSX title victory from Savatgy and Vince Friese, while McElrath took the SX2 round and championship honours from Max Anstie and Chris Blose. Suddenly, it appeared that things were on the right track, albeit without actually being a match for the US-based Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

Then, however, over the next 12 months, a significant upheaval took place behind the scenes. By the end of 2022, then SX Global president Cochrane had left the organisation, followed by Sanderson within a matter of months afterwards.

Soon after the opening round of the 2023 season at Birmingham’s Villa Park in early July (won by reigning champions Roczen and McElrath) rumours began swirling that the WSX’s prospects were on shaky grounds – scheduled rounds in Singapore, Canada and Germany were up in the air and SX Global’s founding investor, Mubadala Capital, was reportedly headed for the exit.

Of course, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. That September saw announcements that SX Global had been formally been sold to a new group of wealthy investors, while Bailey stayed on as CEO, and the Singaporean, German and Canadian GPs were scrapped. The previously-confirmed Abu Dhabi and Australian rounds were still locked in, so after months of tribulations, WSX was again under a lot of scrutiny when action resumed at Yas Island.

Space was at such a premium inside the Etihad Arena that the 20-rider starting grid had to be stacked two rows deep, while the compact track layout was little more than what you’d expect at an arenacross. Savatgy, Dean Wilson and Roczen took a race win apiece as Savatgy claimed the WSX round, while Anstie moved into the SX2 points lead with a round victory over Blose.

The final round was again staged in Melbourne, with the stadium treated to a full-sized track, and a bunch of on- and off-track entertainment. That night belonged to Roczen, who comfortably saw off a challenge from Savatgy to win the title for the second year running, while Anstie dominated the SX2 class on his way to clinching the crown. As it had one year earlier, Australia’s finale provided stakeholders with hope that there was a future for WSX, despite ongoing speculation behind closed doors, and that things would stabilise come 2024.

Image: Foremost Media.

Unfortunately, further drama again dominated the following months, as Englishman Tom Burwell ultimately replaced Bailey as CEO during the off-season, and there was a relative communications vacuum while a restructure took place in the background. Fans had to wait until June to hear news of what the 2024 schedule looked like, with Vancouver hosting the season opener, followed by two rounds in Perth (November 23-24) and the series wrapping up in Abu Dhabi during the Formula 1 race week on Wednesday, December 4.

Since then, updates have trickled in as the teams firmed their WSX and SX2 rosters, headlined by Tomac as part of the CDR Yamaha team and Roczen with the Pipes Motorsports Group (PMG). Earlier this week a full break-down of the riders who will line up across the two categories was released.

However, three high-profile teams have opted out of this year’s series. The ClubMX team is focusing solely on the US, the Honda Nils effort that was operated by Team HRC MXGP owner Giacomo Gariboldi has also departed, and MDK is out altogether as well following a short return to the sport.

As part of the 2024 reset, Vancouver will also see updated race formats introduced. Both classes will undertake practice and qualifying, with the top four from each class progressing to superpole. The two classes will then race back-to-back eight-minute main events with five minutes in between. After a half-hour break they will then race the third 12-lap main. The top eight from each class then progress to a 16-rider, 12-lap ‘superfinal’, where they will battle for an extra 25 championship points. At the end of the superfinal, the riders with the most round points in each class will be crowned the GP winners.

On the broadcast front, 2024 features the return of Ralph Sheheen and Jeff Emig to the booth, with Kristen Beat providing trackside coverage. Sports streaming platform DAZN will host the global broadcasting coverage live to countries around the world, but Fox Sports will be showing all four rounds live in Australia, in the US it will be broadcast as live across FS1 and FS2, Canada will be aired on REV TV, and New Zealand’s coverage can be found on Sky NZ.

After two eventful years – to say the very least – attention will be cast upon Vancouver this weekend to see if lessons have been learned and WSX can live up to its promise under the management of the new-look SX Global team. Will it be a case of third time’s a charm or three strikes and out?