The last few years haven't gone the way that Stark Future, the makers of the all-electric Stark Varg dirt bike, wanted them to go, at least in terms of its racing exploits. They're doing fine everywhere else. But while the dirt bikes have been more than competitive in everything they've been entered in, the company routinely found themselves banned from competition.
First, the FIM SuperEnduro told them to take a hike. And then it was the X Games. Both times, however, the organizing bodies gave bullshit-ass excuses as to why they were banning the EV dirt bikes from competition. The scuttlebutt, however, among the paddock was that the folks who were still running gasoline-powered dirt bikes didn't appreciate how competitive the EVs were right out of the gate. And rather than send it harder, they lobbied to ban them from the arenas.
It's not hard to believe that's true, given just how hard you can whip one of these machines compared to their dinosaur-fueled brethren.
But after public uproar, along with a handful of articles penned by the media decrying such actions, myself included, it seems that at least one arm of the FIM will once again let the Starks, as well as others, compete on the mainstage and against its gasoline siblings. Yep, according to the organization, EV dirt bikes will be included in FIM World Supercross thanks to a new agreement between Stark and the rest of the teams.
And truly, the wording of the FIM's press release gives up why they're doing this.
"The FIM World Supercross Championship today announced a groundbreaking moment in supercross history with the signing of the Geneva Agreement and the entry of Stark Future into the 2025 World Supercross Championship," starts the release, adding, "The Geneva Agreement is a fan-first initiative: a three-year commitment between championship and all seven teams that guarantees top-tier rider participation and sustained team investment in world-class talent. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for a dynamic, competitive lineup at every round of the championship moving forward."
Emphasis, however, is mine.
That fan-first initiative is after so many people complained, and bad press both it and the X Games received, the FIM couldn't sit on the sidelines. Now, I'm not sure what went on behind closed doors, but I do know that Stark Future had vowed to fight its ban at the FIM when it was first sidelined last year from competition. Likewise, after the X Games added further fuel to the fire, a lot of folks began looking into the reasoning behind Stark's ban, i.e. that there really wasn't one outside of other competitors didn't enjoy being shown up by the EV dirt bikes.
The release goes on, stating, "The signing of the deal has enabled Stark Future to become the seventh and first-ever fully electric team to join the starting gate and compete head-to-head against combustion-engine bikes in an FIM-sanctioned supercross championship. The Geneva Agreement sets out how the championship supports the teams financially until the end of the 2027 season, with World Supercross paying a participation fee to all teams, as well as additional financial rewards granted to those that consistently recruit top riders and invest in the sport’s growth."
What the above tells me is that the FIM had to agree to dole out a little more cash to all teams to race with the Starks, as they're afraid they're going to continue to lose against them and, to hedge against such possibilities, they wanted cold-hard cash. Which the FIM relented to. But that's just my guess based on the reading of their release.
Stark Future's founder and CEO, Anton Wass, later said, "This is the beginning of a new chapter and a great milestone for the future of supercross as a sport. Working with Kurt [Nicoll, Vice President of Race Development of World Supercross] and the team has shown that World Supercross is fully committed to pushing boundaries and creating a platform so that we can prove that electric belongs on the same stage as combustion engines. We’re here to compete at the very top level – we know we’re fast out the gate, so it’s going to be a really exciting challenge to be out there racing the best teams and riders the sport has to offer."
