While Pro Motocross catches its breath, the other supercross championship fires up. World Supercross opens its five-round 2026 season in Calgary next weekend, and the storylines have already been rewritten twice before a single gate has dropped.
No Savatgy — Enter Deano
The biggest loss is Joey Savatgy. Coming off a fantastic WSX campaign last year — capped by that South Africa finale battle with Jason Anderson that everyone expected to carry straight into this season — Savatgy is still working his way back from the injury he picked up during the supercross season and won't make the opener. His team confirmed this week that Dean Wilson will fill in at round one. Wilson, ever the glass-half-full guy, spent the summer reminding everyone that crashing once a weekend is an improvement on three times. Calgary gets Deano; the championship loses one of its main characters.
The Real Fight: Anderson vs. Webb
With Savatgy out, this thing distills to Jason Anderson versus Cooper Webb — and the contrast couldn't be sharper. Anderson defends his WSX title with maximum continuity: same team, same bike, no changes. Webb arrives mid-transition, finishing out his current outdoor commitments before jumping onto a Husqvarna — and here's the logistical madness of a global series: WSX race bikes ship out early in crates, which means Webb's round-two bike will be on a boat to England before he's finished racing in the United States. He gets roughly one weekend to test, gather parts, fly over, and build a race bike for round two of a five-race series. No pressure.
The last time Anderson defended a number-one plate, it didn't go great. He's better as the hunter than the hunted.
The Blair Matthes Project · PulpMXThat's the wrinkle in Anderson's continuity edge: history says he wears the target awkwardly. His 2019 U.S. title defense never got rolling. But he's been riding, he's been getting after it, and in a five-round sprint format that rewards raw speed over season-long grind, a locked-in Anderson could genuinely dominate. The WSX format — short, chaotic races where nobody just checks out — cuts the other way, keeping the pack bunched and the title tight. Either outcome is on the table, which is exactly what a series opener should feel like.
The Dark Horse: Justin Hill
Circle this name. Justin Hill spent last year's WSX unhappy on equipment that didn't suit him, then closed out the U.S. supercross season looking like one of the fastest riders on the planet. Now he's on a bike he actually likes, heading to a hard-packed track at elevation — conditions practically engineered for his style. Don't be surprised if Hill swings hard at the opener and forces his way into the championship conversation by Saturday night.
And One Genuine Curveball
WSX rules require teams to field a full lineup, so when a rider can't make a round, somebody fills in. Enzo Lopes misses the opener with commitments in Brazil — a real loss, since he'd have been fun in the 450 class — and the MCR team's solution raised eyebrows across the paddock: Mike Alessi, son of team manager Tony Alessi, gets the call. It's been a long, long time since Mike raced supercross at this level, and the pit-lane consensus lands somewhere between "get that check, Mike" and genuine concern for a 30-something legend strapping back in against the current generation. Grandpa Earl in the Calgary paddock, at least, is undefeated entertainment.
Five rounds. Two favorites, one dark horse, and a fill-in list you couldn't have predicted in a hundred guesses. Calgary drops the gate next weekend — Moto, Moto will have the recap.