AMA and Electric Motorcycles in AMA/FIM races

[Beagle]

A few surprises in technical regulations for WSX.

Electrics are limited to 73 hp (54 kW) for SX1 and 60 hp (44 kW) for SX2.

FIM says they've been conducting lots of tests, on and off track, sure to include Dyno testing but that's quite a change from current limitations of 60 hp and 48 hp applied in all other championships.

Minimum weight is 117 kg (99 kg for 450s).

Maximum torque might be restricted at a later stage.

Just like they did in Superenduro, FIM might adjust the technical regulations (so-called EOT-BOP, Equivalence Of Technologies - Balance Of Performance) after every round.

The World of Motorcycling- News detail

www.fim-moto.com

 

[Beagle]

SX tour round 2 Brienon

SX1
Zaragoza qualified 2nd, won his heat. Irsuti had the 13th time and was 6th in his heat.
The main was a masterclass by Desprey who started in 3rd then hunted down Zaragoza to finally pull back Soubeyras and take the win. Desprey and Soub finish separated by 2 s while the man in 3rd, Tixier, was 13 s further down. Next was Zaragoza who started in 2nd before Desprey, then Tixier and Bourdon passed him. He recovered 4th following an error from Bourdon. Irsuti was never really into the mix and finished 7th.
In the championship, Zaragoza is 4th, level on points with Escoffier in 3rd, Irsuti is 13th.

SX2
In qualifications Hicks had the 4th time, Kobusch 7th, Humphrey 13th. Humphrey and Kobusch got 2nd and 3rd in their heat, Hicks won the other heat.
The main was a Stark affair, Hicks and Kobusch were 1st and 2nd until 2 laps to go when Fontvieille overcame Kobusch, Humphrey held steady in 4th for the entire race. Hicks won the race, Kobusch joined him on the podium in 3rd just ahead of Humphrey in 4th.
1st, 3rd and 4th for Stark riders is quite the performance.
Kobusch is rumored to be Stark 2nd SX2 rider for WSX, this might have been his first pro race on the Varg?
Hicks is now 2nd in the championship, 1 point from the lead, Humphrey is 5th.

What a night for the Stark boys: heat race wins (SX1 and SX2), their first double podium (SX2) and their very first SX tour main race win (SX2).

 

[Beagle]

SX Tour on Instagram: "Highlights SX1 - Brienon - SX Tour 2025"

39 likes, 0 comments - sx_tour on September 7, 2025: "Highlights SX1 - Brienon - SX Tour 2025".

www.instagram.com

SX Tour on Instagram

16 likes, 0 comments - sx_tour on September 7, 2025

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

Stark Future on Instagram: "🏆 History Made in Brienon Last year, our first SX2 podium hinted at what was possible. This year, we came back sharper, stronger, and ready to make history. @mhickzzz_460 grabbed the holeshot, led every lap, and crossed

390 likes, 3 comments - stark__future on September 10, 2025: "🏆 History Made in Brienon Last year, our first SX2 podium hinted at what was possible. This year, we came back sharper, stronger, and ready to make history. @mhickzzz_460 grabbed the holeshot, led every lap, and crossed the line...

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

Stark going full Phineas T. Barnum, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Stark Future on Instagram: "Love him or hate him… you can’t ignore him. 👀 @vincefriese joins Stark Future in SX1, completing the first ever, all electric team in the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship🔥 #starkfuture #starkvarg #wsx #motocross"

3,464 likes, 126 comments - stark__future on September 11, 2025: "Love him or hate him… you can’t ignore him. 👀 @vincefriese joins Stark Future in SX1, completing the first ever, all electric team in the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship🔥 #starkfuture #starkvarg #wsx #motocross".

www.instagram.com

Friese will make his Stark debut this weekend racing Fastcross in Italy alongside Hicks and Zaragoza.

 

[Johnny Depp]

Stark going full Phineas T. Barnum, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Stark Future on Instagram: "Love him or hate him… you can’t ignore him. 👀 @vincefriese joins Stark Future in SX1, completing the first ever, all electric team in the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship🔥 #starkfuture #starkvarg #wsx #motocross"

3,464 likes, 126 comments - stark__future on September 11, 2025: "Love him or hate him… you can’t ignore him. 👀 @vincefriese joins Stark Future in SX1, completing the first ever, all electric team in the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship🔥 #starkfuture #starkvarg #wsx #motocross".

www.instagram.com

Friese will make his Stark debut this weekend racing Fastcross in Italy alongside Hicks and Zaragoza.

Fantastic. The first big step into the big leagues. Good luck team!

 

[UKLee]

Moto E that runs in the Moto GP championship is being dropped at the end of this year, Must say even I see the noise does add to the show just not great as local tracks get shut down for noise.

Watching Moto E Qualifying yesterday one guy crashed on the second lap but his bike was put in a "safe zone" so he could not have his team quickly repair it and get back on track like they would with the ICE classes.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/motoe-put-hiatus-2026-electric-format-fails-gain-traction-2025-09-11/

 

[Johnny Depp]

Moto E that runs in the Moto GP championship is being dropped at the end of this year, Must say even I see the noise does add to the show just not great as local tracks get shut down for noise.

Watching Moto E Qualifying yesterday one guy crashed on the second lap but his bike was put in a "safe zone" so he could not have his team quickly repair it and get back on track like they would with the ICE classes.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/motoe-put-hiatus-2026-electric-format-fails-gain-traction-2025-09-11/

That's exactly why Stark refuses to be segregated into their own class. Nobody would care.

 

[Beagle]

That's exactly why Stark refuses to be segregated into their own class. Nobody would care.

That, plus racing against themselves, they wouldn't learn anything from it, and wouldn't get any marketing value either.

 

[Beagle]

First race with Stark for Friese at Italy's Fastcross and it went better than I expected, he finished 7th, half a second ahead of Zaragoza in 8th and 3 seconds ahead of Hicks in 9th (Kobusch was 11th).
That means he adapted quite quickly and there's probably more to come when he gets more races on it.

Heat winners were Desprey, Soubeyras, and Pourcel. Friese and Hicks were 2nd in their respective heats, Zaragoza got 3rd.

Desprey won the superpole, Stark riders were 7th, 8th, 9th.

The podium main was 100% French affair with Desprey, Soubeyras and Pourcel.

Race can be seen here (starts at 1h26):

FastCross by Night AvioMetal 2025 - Diretta TV Live * KINGS of FastCross 2025 *

Link00:00 03:48 MAIN EVENT MiniFast 85cc01:04:49 KINGS of FastCross 2025

www.youtube.com

@fastcross_official on Instagram: "Official results @fastcross_official 2025"

57 likes, 0 comments - fastcross_official on September 14, 2025: "Official results @fastcross_official 2025".

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

It looks like Stark will have a serious Enduro team for 2026 with Cooper Abbott alongside Eddie Karlsson.

They'll probably race FIM Superenduro, AMA Hard enduro, and maybe even Endurocross if AMA reverts to allowing electrics in this series.

Cooper Abbott on Instagram: "Massive thanks to @stark__future for giving me the opportunity to spin some laps on the new Varg EX! Much more to come! ⚡️"

1,436 likes, 42 comments - cooperabbott120 on September 27, 2025: "Massive thanks to @stark__future for giving me the opportunity to spin some laps on the new Varg EX! Much more to come! ⚡️".

www.instagram.com

That would be their 5th US rider after Vince Friese, Michael Hicks, Lance Kobusch and Kelana Humphrey.

Cooper Abbott on Instagram: "⚡️ @stark__future ⚡️"

cooperabbott120 on September 28, 2025: "⚡️ @stark__future ⚡️".

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

Great vid, they're really good at this, hopefully they keep at it for WSX.

Stark Future on Instagram: "The longest and most epic Stark Files yet is now LIVE! We're taking you on a thrilling ride through the Arenacross World Tour Final, in Abu Dhabi. Destruction, redemption, and pure motocross madness! Link in bio 🔗

1,188 likes, 10 comments - stark__future on October 3, 2025: "The longest and most epic Stark Files yet is now LIVE! We're taking you on a thrilling ride through the Arenacross World Tour Final, in Abu Dhabi. Destruction, redemption, and pure motocross madness! Link in bio 🔗 How long do...

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

Gotland is serious mud testing

David Herbreteau on Instagram: "WHAT A DAY. Holeshot with the varg at the GGN and a massive carnage for 4 hrs. 11 of the ELITE class & 23 OA. Thank’s team @stark__future @anton.wass @sebtortelli @_la.64_ @jmonzo.22 @urigiro1 @mx9virginie @tapioale

1,291 likes, 8 comments - davidherbreteau338 on October 25, 2025: "WHAT A DAY. Holeshot with the varg at the GGN and a massive carnage for 4 hrs. 11 of the ELITE class & 23 OA. Thank’s team @stark__future @anton.wass @sebtortelli @_la.64_ @jmonzo.22 @urigiro1 @mx9virginie @tapioalex...

www.instagram.com

 

[Beagle]

Seb Tortelli POV, that race is brutal, good choice for his first Enduro race
By the end of the day, that track was a dirt bike graveyard.

Check out at 5'40 and 14'

Mad respect for all the nuts that took the start.

 

[Beagle]

France SX tour 2025 is a wrap.

Hicks had a terrific rookie season in SX2, ends up second in the championship, always finished 1st or 2nd after the 1st round. Kelana is 7th.

In SX1 things got harder for Zaragoza and Irsuti ending in 4th and 9th.

Don't know if Hicks will be back next year but if he is I would love to see him race SX1.

 

[Julo EX]

Really happy for hicks, can't wait to see the next races

 

[Beagle]

Really happy for hicks, can't wait to see the next races

Hicks is Stark best rider for sure.

Friese may be a faster rider on a gas bike but beating Hicks with both of them on Starks would likely require time to adapt his riding... and he is signed to race a Kawasaki in SMX next year.

 

[Beagle]

WSX 2025 is done.

Stark fastest riders were Hicks in SX2 and Zaragoza in SX1, here's their results recap

SX2:
Hicks 7th in the championship
9th (10/9/7)
7th (6/7/7)
9th (8/5/13)
4th (4/3/4)
6th (9/8/4)

SX1:
Zaragoza 10th in the championship
15th (10/15/14)
8th (9/11/9)
15th (15/13/12)
12th (10/10/11)
9th (10/3/12)

Both Hicks in SX2 and Zaragoza in SX1 got 1 race podium to their name.

Hicks was much more competitive with 6 top6 in races and 2 top6 OA (best OA is 4th) while Zaragoza podium was in the second to last race and is his only race top6 (best OA is 8th).

Friese struggled to adapt to riding an electric, he's far from where he was on a gas bike (12th in the championship, best OA is 9th, best race result 8th). It's not a magic bullet, these things take time.

Hicks is Stark fastest rider, often fastest than their SX1 riders (although that might not mean much given their limit for SX2 is 59 hp, I doubt the SX1 guys use much more power, same minimum weight of 117 kg for both categories).

Hicks has shown flashes of brilliance while the other Stark riders have had underwhelming results (was expecting much more from Zaragoza).
I guess most importantly for Stark, these 5 races have demonstrated that electric dirt bikes can safely compete along gas bikes at the highest level without any issues. Not many excuses left for the AMA to prevent them from racing SX in the US.

 

[Beagle]

Stark was racing 2 FIM championships last night.
It was also Superenduro 1st round, in Poland Eddie Karlsson got his first FIM Superenduro podium with 4/4/3, right behind Billy Bolt and Jonny Walker (now on the Triumph 450).

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[Theo]

I guess most importantly for Stark, these 5 races have demonstrated that electric dirt bikes can safely compete along gas bikes at the highest level without any issues. Not many excuses left for the AMA to prevent them from racing SX in the US.

I wonder how much engine noise those riders can hear anyways when the crowd is cheering hard. Remember James Stewart in Toronto in 2014? Dozens of thousands of spectators screaming vs 20 motorcycles.