After a high-octane final four races at the FIM World Supercross Championship season finale, the 2024 champions in both WSX and SX2 have been crowned.
Eli Tomac claimed his maiden WSX title in spectacular style in Abu Dhabi, after storming to a commanding SuperFinal win at Etihad Arena. Here’s how he became the 2024 WSX Champion.
Tomac claims maiden title
The CDR Yamaha Supported by Star Racing rider has been almost unbeatable in his first full season of World Supercross, and he made that abundantly clear from the very first event at the WSX Canadian GP in Vancouver.
Although it was outgoing champion Ken Roczen who took the first individual race win of the year, Tomac harried him all the way to the line and finished second on his first WSX appearance in two years.
From Race 2 at BC Place, Tomac went on a tear that saw him unbeaten for the next eight races in a row – including a stellar 1-1-1-1 clean sweep in Round 2 – that came to an end with a podium finish on day two of the Perth double-header.
Then came the 2024 WSX Abu Dhabi GP season finale, and even with a comfortable points lead to fall back on, Tomac didn’t let up. He won SuperPole at the start of the night, before going 3-2-2 in the GPs and taking a sensational SuperFinal victory, which was enough to secure the title at Etihad Arena.
WSX RESULTS: Abu Dhabi GP
Tomac has won races by over 20 seconds this season, and crossed the line first in 11 of the 16 individual WSX race starts. When you’re competing with the likes of Ken Roczen and Joey Savatgy, that’s really saying something. If any Tomac doubters remained, they have surely been silenced by his textbook, almost faultless 2024 campaign.
With his remarkable run at an end, Tomac was crowned the 2024 WSX Champion in Abu Dhabi ahead of outgoing champion Roczen and Savatgy, who, rather fittingly were two of the three men to deny Tomac victories this year.
McElrath returns to the top spot
In the 250cc class, it was 2022 SX2 champion Shane McElrath who reclaimed his crown. Like Tomac, McElrath was in fine form all season, with his imperious performances highlighting exactly why he was crowned champion the first time around.
As was the case in 450cc, the dominant force in 250cc got off to a shaky start, finishing seventh in the first Vancouver race. That would be the last time he finished outside the top three in 2024, though.
After topping the remaining three races and the overall event in Canada, McElrath streaked clear of the pack at Perth’s double-header by going 2-1-1 in the GPs on Saturday, 1-1-2 in the GPs on Sunday and winning both SuperFinals.
At the Abu Dhabi season finale, he’d go one better taking a clean sweep of GP wins and topping the SX2 class in the SuperFinal, refusing to succumb to any title pressures. McElrath signed off his season with the ultimate stamp of authority, ensuring there was no room for debate on who the rightful champion was.
SX2 RESULTS: Abu Dhabi GP
The Fire Power Honda rider may have claimed 13 of the 16 SX2 victories in 2024, but team-mate Cole Thompson and the Rick Ware Racing duo of Enzo Lopes and Coty Schock have given chase every step of the way. Schock snatched two wins from McElrath in Australia while Lopes and Thompson have been relentlessly consistent throughout the year.
After four rounds, 16 races and three continents, McElrath was named as the 2024 SX2 Champion, with Schock and Thompson taking the second and third spots in the standings separated by a solitary point.
STANDINGS: See how the points stacked up at the end of the 2024 season
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