World Supercross started their new direction in Argentina with big names and some history to watch as Haiden Deegan made his debut on the 450 in what was ultimately a very successful weekend for the team behind the FIM series that is still trying to gain a major footprint in the supercross world.
A positive can create a negative and the interest in Deegan’s 450 debut against Roczen, Anderson, Cooper and company created a problem for the streaming sight with no-one able to log on! Disappointment and frustration for many and not the best way to showcase the new viewing platform for sure – but it did show the interest in the series.
Another teething problem robbed us of Deegan having the chance to battle Roczen as the American teenager said he didn’t even know about the gate picking rules, Deegan didn’t blame anyone but himself and accepted the punishment of the outside gate but it did ruin the public’s chances of seeing him run with a flawless Roczen – Deegan never had a chance of a holeshot from the outside.
But we did get to see him come through the pack and his decision making was impressive as was the whips and speed, Deegan said he hadn’t had as much fun in a long time and everyone seemed to really appreciate the Argentinian crowd who, as we saw in MXGP, are absolutely nuts for elite level dirt bike racing.
The track looked simple on paper but it produced good racing, the slick nature providing a technical aspect and a longer whoop section than AMA racing still gave the best guys the chance to make up some time – Roczen was awesome there as was Craig while Deegan was better than maybe many expected.
Deegan, with only seven days on the bike, looks ready to at least give the West coast 450 rounds a run, like WSX, it would be a no pressure situation, which he seemed to really enjoy. With another two months he will be even faster than he was in Argentina and that was Deegan with bad starts and burnt-out clutches. He will get better quickly.
But as we all expected, Ken Roczen was the guy to beat even despite a stomach bug. The race format just suits Roczen’s fast twitch style aligned with his incredible talent on a bike and watching him ride is always a pleasure. The advantage WSX has is that fans around the world, like Argentina, are now getting to see a rider of Roczen’s level ride supercross up close and in person instead of just seeing him on TV, this was an experience many will never forget.
WSX has a place in the sport, even if it is essentially marketing the AMA series around the world, but there is a small window to make the series worthwhile and the first round was a huge success in that regard including the Stark Varg showcasing it’s capabilities with Jorge Zaragoza start’s and Michael Hicks really impressing in the unique series that gives something different to riders and spectators around the world.
The fans were awesome, the main riders produced and in SX2 Max Anstie got to remind everyone just how good he really is as he dominated the class but even then, with the short sharp races, there is plenty going on for the fans to watch in the pack such is the intensity of each moto.
The format works, and round one couldn’t have got much better apart from Haiden Deegan not getting his proper gate pick. Hopefully the streaming surface has their issues fixed because Eli Tomac KTM debut this weekend will have a lot of eyes on it – especially with Ken Roczen in this form. It’s the perfect barometer for Tomac and KTM to measure themselves and their progress so far.
All eyes will be once again on the World Supercross series and that is just what they want.
