The 2023 FOX Australian Supercross Championship was held over three rounds, kicking off in Adelaide and then moving on to Newcastle, and wrapping up in conjunction with the 2023 FIM World Supercross Championship Australian GP at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne. For the first time in years, the series has been solely controlled by one entity, the AME group, which comprises a solid team all working together for the common goal of producing a strong series now and well into the future.
The 2023 series was again dominated by overseas riders, with Scotsman Dean Wilson taking out the SX1 class, Brit Max Anstie the SX2 class, and American Parker Ross the SX3 class, which raises the question: Are our factory teams handing out rides that could have been given to Australian riders? The answer isn't clear-cut, as at the end of the day, manufacturers want to win and if one team is winning championships by entering faster overseas riders, the others follow suit.
There's also the argument that overseas riders make the series more exciting, which they do, and raise the bar for Aussie riders who benefit from racing against faster riders. At the moment, the depth of racing talent in Supercross appears to be thin, and the introduction of the CR22 Cup, endorsed by Aussie supercross legend Chad Reed, should go a long way to improving this issue in the coming years. Like America, we need kids learning Supercross skills at a younger age, and this class enables that. Just look at how quickly Haiden Deegan adapted to the Pro class in his rookie season. He'd been
