WSX announces Marvel Stadium in Melbourne for Round 2

Marvel Stadium in Melbourne has been chosen as the Australian venue for the World Supercross Championship (WSX) in a multi-year deal that runs from 2022 through 2024 with Australian Chad Reed ending his retirement to compete.

The inaugural race will be part of the series’ three-race pilot season in 2022 and part of the regular season for the next two years.

In 2022, the action kicks off on Friday October 21st with the opening round of the Australian Supercross Championship and competitors in that race will have an opportunity to advance into the WSX race the following day, Saturday 22nd, as a wild card entry.

This is the second venue announced for the three-race pilot season along with Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on October 8, 2022.

Additionally, it was announced that Australian supercross star Reed will come out of retirement to be among those competing for American-based, MDK Motorsports in the 450 class.

“Opportunities like WSX don’t come along every day; I’ve seen plenty during my career, but this is super cool and something I had to be involved in,” Reed said in a release. “I’m excited to be here today from the US to help launch the Melbourne round and hopefully highlight to everyone around the world how epic this championship is going to be. The WSX Championship going global is the biggest thing to happen to supercross in its history.

“It’s the beginning of something special that will expand supercross on a global level and give riders different / new opportunities at an international and local level. It opens a lot of doors for everyone. I haven’t raced in Melbourne since 2019, so can’t wait to get back here in October and go up against the best current riders in the world. It’s going to be one hell of a 2022 championship.”

Reed’s last Monster Energy Supercross race came in June, 2020 at Salt Lake City. He finished 10th.

The field has already taken on an international flavor with Germany’s Ken Roczen, Scotland’s Dean Wilson, Great Britain’s Max Anstie and several American riders already committing to the series. Riders from France, Italy and Brazil are also expected to compete.

This will be the home race for SX Global, who are spearheading the series.

“SX Global is thrilled that Melbourne has secured a round of the prestigious championship for the people of Victoria and Australasian fans for the next three years until 2024,” said Tony Cochrane, President of SX Global. “The future of supercross is on a global stage and for Melbourne to host a round the championship adds to its impressive portfolio of major sporting events.”

The Australian supercross round will feature a purse of more than $250,000, as will all rounds in the series, making this one of the most lucrative events in the sport.

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Melbourne Australia’s Marvel Stadium announced as part of WSX schedule, Chad Reed ends retirement

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

Read more about Motorsports

Read more about SuperMotocross