He’s always had the talent and skill and now, at 30 years old, Max Anstie has achieved his dream of being world champion. An all round skill set the British phenom has won GPs, MXoN and US supercross races and now, finally, he has the big title to his name, an SX2 world championship.
Anstie took in defending champ, Shane McElrath and was flawless in virtually all 9 main events putting an exclamation mark on his title with three wins in Australia.
A great talker as well as a great rider, this is what the effervescent Anstie had to say in the press conference: “I knew tonight meant a lot to me. Tonight felt like I was riding like clockwork, I just executed. It’s three rounds yes but each main event counted for points, that’s nine, for me that’s like racing East coast supercross in the US! I’m pleased tonight to put a stamp on it and come away with a win and this gold medal.
“My career has been opened up again, I’m 30 years old but I feel like I’m 17 again in supercross. My brain is constantly thinking about how to go faster, how to go better in the whoops, I want to keep this momentum going.
“I really, really wanted to make a statement with this. My old agent, Jamie Dobb, he was the last British world champion in 2001 and he liked to tell me that! I know that was outdoors but I don’t care, this FIM World Championship thing, whether its supercross or MXGP, it’s still gold and a British world champion.
“Coming from the UK, supercross feels so far away. I went 1-1 at the MXoN in 2017 and not that no-one cares but it just got brushed over and you go to the MXoN in Holland the year after and the king of Holland is there. In England, motocross is not a big sport, it’s viewed as hooligans or whatever. It’s not viewed as bring professional and I want to try to change that. I want the kids in the UK to think maybe one day we can be racing the supercross world championship. I’ve got to go back to England next week for the FIM awards, maybe the crew over here can get me on TV over there and I can actually push it a little bit!”
A delighted Anstie said on social media: “Champ Champ 🏆🏆 – SX2 World Champion & 2x Aus SX 2 champion @wsxchampionship @aussupercross Firstly to my wife @millyanstie – your love, support, sacrifices & ultimately pushing me to give moving to America/supercross a shot, is what has lead “us” 👨👩👦 to stand on top of the world 🏆🌍 it was tough not having you there with me in person for the actual racing in Australia and I know it was even tougher for you having to watch in the middle of the night on your laptop. But you guys, our family, were with me every step (lap) of the way ❤️ love you ❤️
To the team @hondaracing_moto – you guys are an amazing bunch, every one of you from the team in US to the @honda_racing_aus crew all played a vital part in our championships. I’m looking forward to continuing our work and 2024 👊🏻
Mum and Dad @anstiecr @mervynanstie thanks for supporting me in my dream since I was 7yrs old. I never doubted it, I was made to be a world champion but it took me a while longer than I thought 😅 ❤️❤️
My pretty small crew of friends/family/people in my circle scattered all over the world, you know who you are, I know it would be much more fun if I lived close by haha but thanks for making me happy no matter how many times the black dogs got me laying on the floor over the years 😆❤️💪
To the fans and young kids worldwide and especially British – it doesn’t matter if you can’t see how you are going to get there… all that matters is you can see yourself there! The path will appear infront of you if you want something badly enough. I hope I inspire you guys to work hard, be professional, and hopefully over time change the image of motocross and supercross in the UK to a professional sport and not just a bunch of w*nkers in white vans nicking everything in sight. 😆 be good kids and one day I’ll see you on the world stage of Supercross 👊🏻❤️”
Article: Jonathan McCready
Images: WSX
