Conflicts between the AUSX Supercross and World Supercross Championship (WSX) calendars in 2025 have been anticipated for some time, now official following the release of each fixture. Unfortunately for fans, it will be a case of choosing between either the AUSX Grand Final in Adelaide or the Gold Coast’s WSX Australian GP this November, but what else is impacted?

We’re in an interesting era of supercross on a global scale, potentially more so now more than ever before. The development of alternatives outside of the premier Monster Energy Supercross Championship is building, and the fight for real estate – aka workable dates – continues to escalate.

To some degree, this is a plus from a macro perspective, as it suggests that the sport is actually growing, which we can collectively all appreciate. But with every positive usually comes a negative, and clashes between AUSX and WSX – two of the prominent championships outside of the US – is making for the most challenging position yet.

Image: Foremost Media.

First of those conflicts will be between round three of the Boost Mobile-backed AUSX series in New South Wales – the venue yet to be confirmed, but rumoured to potentially be a high-profile return to Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena – and the third round of WSX in Vancouver, Canada, on November 15.

This, followed by an even more head-scratching clash on November 29 between AUSX as part of the Supercars’ Adelaide Grand Final weekend and WSX as it arrives in Queensland for the first time at Cbus Super Stadium – the home of the Gold Coast Titans National Rugby League (NRL) team. What’s worse is, October is largely open for both series, before November becomes packed with little room for movement.

As a result, unless significant change happens at the 11th-hour, you won’t see reigning Australian SX1 champion Joey Savatgy or SX2 title-holder Shane McElrath back to defend their crowns this year, and on the flipside of that, WSX can wave goodbye to the likes of Luke Clout, Aaron Tanti, Matt Moss pending where he lands, among others, and not to mention the factory rider wildcards that have often added to the Australian GP’s spectacle.

Since 2022 and the emergence of SX Global to form this modern era of the FIM-sanctioned world championship, an assortment of WSX and AUSX teams have drawn heavily from each other’s respective talent pools, meaning that in this instance, all will need to elect which series they prioritise.

Image: Foremost Media.

In addition, it affects the Australian teams’ presence in WSX if you consider Yarrive Konsky’s Honda Racing effort (which does have the advantage of calling upon its American-based arm in this case) and Craig Dack’s Monster Energy CDR Yamaha entry. Already, CDR has been forced to fold its WSX program, unable to sustain both series simultaneously after clinching the 450 title with Eli Tomac only six months ago.

Aussie fans will now need to decide which event they watch live on that final weekend of November, with two world-class supercross races to choose from, inclusive of diverse rider rosters that are still expected to comprise of both local and international competitors. With government support instrumental and a desire for interstate or even overseas audiences of importance, this domestic clash is not ideal for anyone.

Of course, those promoters in power – and from a Motorcycling Australia or FIM standpoint – would probably play down the problem, disregarding any evident issues and will go on to focus on their own space, but this particular narrative goes deeper than that. With former SX Global and WSX CEO Adam Bailey once again formally aligned with AME, the longtime AUSX series rights-holder, there is allegedly no love lost between the organisations.

While it’s a difficult task to avoid conflicting dates, especially considering both rapid-fire series are contested in Q4 of the year during the brief SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) off-season, the fact is that instead of AUSX/WSX continuing to collaborate as they had done when Bailey was across both entities (if not officially, at the very least in terms of awareness since his wife, Kelly Bailey, has been in the position of AUSX managing director in recent years), they’re now effectively non-cooperative by all indications.

Image: Supplied.

But can you blame AME? Not really… Supercross on Supercars weekend was an outstanding success on debut last year, and it only made sense for that unity to continue on perhaps the biggest motorsport stage in the nation. The only way they would be able to avoid the WSX date would be to step away from the BP Adelaide Grand Final weekend altogether, which very few would actually be in favour of.

So that leaves the Tom Burwell-led SX Global leadership team in the spotlight, and research suggests that Cbus Super Stadium doesn’t have any events scheduled – at least publicly – for the weekend after WSX’s tentative November 29 date. We say tentative because, after all, tickets aren’t even on sale yet, and history tells us that the WSX’s dates in the past haven’t exactly been set in stone upon being announced.

Moving the Australian GP to the week prior isn’t an option, because that would overlap with the anticipated AUSX Open in Melbourne on November 22, which would be severely damaging if you want to weigh up WSX’s attraction versus AUSX’s Lawrence brothers-headlined, Marvel Stadium-based international. So, that leaves December 6 as a legitimate date to be investigated.

Sure, it would make for a tighter turnaround to get to South Africa for its mid-December finale the following weekend, but at least gives WSX a greater chance of ongoing success in Australia for a fourth-consecutive year. Simply put, it’s not too late for revisions, and for good reason this time around.