2025 Vancouver Supercross | The Racing | Direct Motocross Canada

2025 Vancouver Supercross | The Racing

Racing report from Round 2 of the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship at BC Place in Vancouver Canada.

By Billy Rainford

Photos by 🌊

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t have very high expectations for Round 2 of the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship at BC Place in Vancouver, BC. The last time I was at a World Supercross in Vancouver was 2006 and the reception and support from the very non-motorsports fan city wasn’t very enthusiastic.

I brought 3 non-moto friends with me in hopes of converting some hockey guys to moto, but the overall feel of the event didn’t do what I was hoping. Not to mention, when we left and got back to the van, there was someone shooting crack between the cars, but that’s another issue altogether…

So, as I said, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by spectator turnout, but I was looking forward to some good racing. I was also curious to see defending WSX Champion Eli Tomac in his first race on the Red Bull KTM 450 and our two Canadians #2 Cole Thompson and Noah Viney in the SX2 class.

It turned out the best part of my time in Vancouver was seeing all the Canadian fans who showed up and hung out at the Fan Zone before the racing got underway. It had been a few years since I was in the city that I called home from 1996-2007, so it was a sort of homecoming for me in a sense.

Was I hurt that they wanted me to *take* the photo and not be in the photo? Only for a little while…

I tried to take as many people photos as I could to have lots of ammunition for a ‘Faces at the Races’ column, so watch for that one on Tuesday.

Judging from the line-ups to get autographs from the riders, we were in for a pretty good turnout.

Emily and I walked over to a little pizza place that promised authentic Brooklyn-style, foldable pizza slices and the roof of my mouth still vouches for how good it was.

I went back into the stadium and to the Press Box to get everything ready for the night of racing. I decided to step back out and check out the main entrance. I was surprised to see so many people lining up and coming through the doors! It looked like we were in for a round of Supercross that was much more supported than the last time I was in this building. Excellent!

I went back inside and looked out from the balcony and could see the lower bowl filling up.

I snapped this shot from the Press Box of people getting a closer look at the track.

The lower bowl of the stadium that holds 52 000 filled up nicely.

After qualifying, the top 4 from both the SX2 and SX1 classes went out to put in their best lap for the Superpole which would determine their gate pick. The rest of the riders’ spots were already determined by their qualifying session earlier.

#99 Max Anstie was quickest in Qualifying and in the Superpole.

In SX2 qualifying, #99 Max Anstie was quickest and also took top spot in the Superpole.

#1 Eli Tomac was quickest in SX1 Qualifying.

But #32 Justin Cooper got the better of him in the Superpole.

In SX1 qualifying, #1 Eli Tomac was quickest, but then #32 Justin Cooper took top spot in the Superpole.

The rest of the night was for racing and both classes went Sprint (8 laps), Sprint (8 laps), Race (12 laps) to decide the winner. The sprint races awarded 10 points for 1st place while the longer races awarded 25 for the winners and down form there.

SX2

#99 Max Anstie was unstoppable again in Vancouver.

Anstie grabbed every holeshot and never looked back to take all 3 wins. After going 3 for 3 at Round 1 in Argentina he looks like a rider who could actually run the table this season. There were some good battles behind him , but any time they looked to be closing in on the British rider, he was able to simply grab another gear and keep them behind him.

It’s great to see #110 Kyle Peters back in action on the big floor. He was up at the front with Anstie in Sprint #1 but dropped back to 8th at the flag in Sprint 1.

The battle of the night went to #2 Cole Thompson vs. #43 Cullin Park.

Peters finished the night 5th, tied with Canadian #2 Cole Thompson who finished 4-6-8 for 6th overall. Cole went at it hard with #43 Cullin Park, especially in SX2 Sprint #1.

I focussed on video mostly as the two played cat and mouse with each other and exchanged words and a bit more after the checkered flag waved.

#69 Coty Schock ahead of #16 Enzo Lopes.

#69 Coty Schock and #16 Enzo Lopes (who did the intro wearing a Vancouver Canucks jersey) had some nice battles throughout the night, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall respectively.

In the 2nd Sprint, Cole was in touch with the leaders but the games with Park kept either of them from advancing and being part of the race for the podium.

Defending champion #1 Shane McElrath ended up 8th overall.

#460 Michael Hicks was the top-finishing Stark electric bike in 7th.

#460 Michael Hicks was close to Thompson and Park on the track and he was the highest placing electric bike, taking 7th. I do worry about the silent bikes mixed in with the regular ones, but only because I saw a couple instances where Michael was making a pass and the other riders couldn’t hear him coming.

I know you should simply hold your line and passes will take place where that take place, but I think that may be downplaying how much audio comes into play when riders are dicing for positions and getting close on the track.

#39 Noah Viney finished 14th again at Round 2 in Vancouver.

Our other Canadian entry is #39 Noah Viney. Noah had another great start in Main #3 but got shuffled back to 13th by the time the flag waved.

#11 Kyle Chisholm went down hard and had to be helped off the track, ending his night early.

SX2 podium: Max Anstie, Coty Schock, Enzo Lopes.

SX1

There is no denying Eli Tomac’s popularity.

The obvious reason so many showed up to watch in Vancouver was to see #1 Eli Tomac race his Red Bull KTM for the first time. With his career nearing an end, any time you get a chance to see one of our all-time greats in action you take that chance.

Eli came in and looked fast from the start, taking top spot in qualifying. He also received the loudest cheers when he was introduced to the crowd during opening ceremonies.

With 1-2-1 races, Eli took top spot on the night as a Wildcard entry and gave the fans what they wanted to see.

#94 Ken Roczen finished 2nd with 3-1-2 races.

Ken Roczen won all 3 races at Round 1 but could only hit the top spot once in Vancouver.

#21 Jason Anderson is riding for a new team this year and it looks to have lit a fire under him. He was the battles for the lead all night long and finished 3rd with 2-3-4 races.

#32 Justin Cooper should have finished better than 6th, but a last lap encounter with a tuff block in Sprint #2 put him in last place, scoring zero points.

#28 Christian Craig ended up 4th with #17 Joey Savatgy 5th. #32 Justin Cooper ended up hitting a tuff block while in the lead battle in race #2 and that dropped him to last place on the final lap, scoring zero points and putting him back in 6th overall as the other Wildcard entry.