Max Anstie Bio
Max Anstie (born 25 April 1993) is a British professional motocross and supercross racer from Newbury, England, United Kingdom. He is the 2023 FIM Supercross World Champion in the SX2 class and a two-time Australian Supercross Champion in the same class. Anstie has competed at the highest levels of both European and American motorcycle racing, including the FIM Motocross World Championship, the AMA Supercross Championship, and the AMA Motocross Championship. Across his career he has earned six grand prix wins in the MX2 class, with his strongest championship result of third overall coming in 2015.
Beyond his individual achievements, Anstie is widely respected for his performances representing Great Britain at the Motocross des Nations. His standout moment for the national team came in 2017, when he won both of his races and helped Great Britain claim the overall podium for the first time since 1997. He currently rides for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing in the American championship scene.
Early Life and Background
Max Anstie was born on 25 April 1993 in Newbury, England, United Kingdom, and grew up in a household with deep ties to professional motocross. His father, Mervyn Anstie, was a world championship-level professional motocross racer, which gave Max early and constant exposure to the sport. Surrounded by bikes and riders from a young age, Anstie developed his foundation on two wheels in the strong British motocross scene.
As a junior, Anstie moved quickly through the international ranks. He first entered the FIM Motocross Junior World Championship in 2006 in the 85cc class and finished sixth overall. The following year he improved to runner-up in the same class, taking two second-place finishes behind future star Ken Roczen. In 2008, he won the opening race of the 85cc class before a non-finish in race two dropped him to seventh overall, with Jeffrey Herlings taking the title that year.
Path to Professional Racing
Anstie made his professional motocross debut in 2009 at just sixteen years old, racing the 250 class of the AMA Motocross Championship in the United States aboard a KTM. He entered eight rounds that season and recorded a best result of sixth in the second race at Red Bud, enough to attract the attention of American teams. That performance earned him a contract with the DNA Shred Stix Star Racing Yamaha team for 2010, where he made his professional supercross debut in the Lites West class and posted several top-ten finishes, including a fourth in San Diego.
Those American results opened the door to the world stage. In 2011, Anstie signed with the Team CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit squad to race the MX2 class of the FIM Motocross World Championship. He became a regular top-ten threat in his first year, took his maiden grand prix podium at the final round in Italy, and ended the season sixth in the final standings. After that breakthrough campaign, he moved to the Honda Gariboldi team for 2012, splitting his season between the MX2 world championship and the opening rounds of the AMA Supercross Lites West class.
Max Anstie Career
Early Career in the MX2 Class (2011-2013)
Anstie spent his first three full seasons in Europe establishing himself as one of the MX2 class’s most consistent young talents. With Honda Gariboldi in 2012, he finished seventh overall in the world championship standings, claimed a podium at Lierop in the Netherlands, and made his Motocross des Nations debut for Great Britain at Lommel in Belgium. The following year, racing for Suzuki’s factory team, he remained a regular presence near the front of the field and added two third-place race finishes to his growing resume.
Alongside his European commitments, Anstie continued to log valuable experience in the American AMA Supercross Championship, racing the 250SX West class in 2013. Those combined schedules built the endurance, race craft, and versatility that would later define his career. By the end of 2013, he had proven he could compete at the sharp end of both the world championship and the American supercross scene.
MX2 World Championship Breakthrough (2014-2016)
The 2014 season marked Anstie’s arrival as a genuine grand prix winner. Riding for the BikeIT Yamaha Cosworth team, he ran at the front of the field from the opening rounds, picked up consecutive overall podiums, and scored his first race win at the famous Lommel circuit in Belgium on his way to his maiden overall grand prix victory. He stayed with the same squad in 2015 as it transitioned to Kawasaki machinery, and produced his most decorated MX2 campaign, finishing third overall behind Tim Gajser and Pauls Jonass with three grand prix wins and nine individual race wins.
Selected to represent Great Britain again at the 2015 Motocross des Nations, Anstie’s weekend ended early after an injury in the Saturday qualifying race. He rebounded in 2016 by returning to factory status with Husqvarna, where he added two more grand prix victories in a season dominated by champion Jeffrey Herlings and finished fourth in the final standings. Across the MX2 class, he built a total of six grand prix wins, establishing himself as one of Britain’s most successful modern motocoss racers.
MXGP Class and National Team Success (2017-2019)
In 2017, Anstie stepped up to the premier MXGP class with factory Husqvarna. Despite a mid-season knee injury that cost him two rounds, he captured three overall podiums on his way to ninth in the final standings. That same year he delivered one of the defining rides of his career at the Motocross des Nations, winning both of his motos to help Great Britain finish third overall and reach the podium for the first time since 1997. He was later named the best individual rider of the event.
Anstie added three more overall podiums in 2018 on his way to tenth in the MXGP standings, and helped Great Britain to another third-place finish at the Motocross des Nations. In 2019, he switched to the Standing Construct KTM team, and although the season was shortened by injury, he claimed his first and only MXGP class race win at Lommel. He finished the second race with a damaged lung after a first-moto crash but was unable to contest the remaining rounds.
Return to America and World Supercross Era (2020-2023)
Struggling to secure a full-time ride in the world championship paddock, Anstie returned to the United States in 2020 with the HEP Motorsports Suzuki team, only for an injury to wipe out his supercross season. He recovered to finish ninth in the COVID-shortened AMA Motocross season. Injury problems continued into 2021, and he parted ways with the team before joining the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WPS KTM squad for 2022. After losing that ride mid-season, he signed with the Australian Fire Power Honda team and shifted his focus to the Motocross des Nations and the FIM Supercross World Championship.
That move paid off immediately. In 2022, Anstie finished runner-up in the FIM Supercross World Championship behind Shane McElrath with two race wins, and he lifted the Australian Supercross Championship in the 250 class. In 2023, he produced his strongest AMA Supercross season to date, finishing third in the 250SX East class and securing his first AMA Supercross main event win in the wet at MetLife Stadium. He then dominated the 2023 FIM Supercross World Championship, taking the title in the SX2 class with a clean sweep of the final round in Australia, becoming the first British rider to win an FIM-sanctioned world supercross title. He also defended his Australian Supercross crown in the same year.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Era (2024-Present)
Anstie opened the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship with a strong second-place finish in the 250SX East opener in Detroit, and he later added a second career professional supercross win at the penultimate round in Philadelphia. In June 2024, he departed Fire Power Honda and signed a multi-year deal with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha, the same organization where he had made his professional debut fourteen years earlier. He contested the final seven rounds of the 2024 AMA National Motocross Championship for the team, scoring two individual third-place race finishes, before representing Great Britain at the 2024 Motocross des Nations in the MX2 class, where a first-moto crash ended his weekend early.
Carrying that momentum into 2025, Anstie won the opening round of the 250SX East class of the AMA Supercross Championship and held the championship lead early in the season. A qualifying crash at the fifth round resulted in a broken fibula that ruled him out for the remainder of the supercross championship. He missed the entire 2025 AMA National Motocross season but returned for the 2025 SuperMotocross playoff rounds, finishing fifteenth in the final standings.
Driving Style and Strengths
Anstie is known for his smooth, technically polished riding style and his ability to adapt between European and American racing. He performs strongly on rough, sandy, and deep-rutted circuits, where his balance and throttle control stand out, and he has shown a particular fondness for the Lommel sand track, where he has scored multiple grand prix and MXGP wins. His race craft is built around consistency and patience, and he is equally comfortable threading through traffic in tight supercross stadiums as he is managing long outdoor motos in changing conditions.
Notable Races and Milestones
Among the signature moments of Anstie’s career are his two race wins at the 2017 Motocross des Nations, his first MX2 grand prix victory at Lommel in 2014, and his breakthrough 2015 season with three grand prix wins and third in the MX2 championship. More recently, his first AMA Supercross main event win at MetLife Stadium in 2023 and his historic 2023 FIM Supercross World Championship title stand out as defining achievements. His win at the 2025 AMA Supercross opener in the 250SX East class also marked his continued competitiveness at the top of the sport.
Max Anstie Career Wins
Max Anstie has built a versatile and international win record that spans European grand prix racing, American supercross and motocross, and world-level supercross competition. He has accumulated six grand prix victories in the MX2 class of the FIM Motocross World Championship, one race win in the MXGP class, an FIM Supercross World Championship title in the SX2 class, and two Australian Supercross Championship crowns in the same category.
MX2 World Championship Highlights
Anstie’s six MX2 grand prix wins came between 2014 and 2016, with his breakthrough victory arriving at Lommel in Belgium in 2014. He added further wins during his 2015 campaign, which produced three grand prix victories and nine individual race wins en route to third place in the final standings behind Tim Gajser and Pauls Jonass. Two more grand prix wins followed in 2016 with factory Husqvarna, capping his most successful period in the class.
AMA Supercross and Motocross Highlights
After returning to America, Anstie’s standout supercross result came in 2023, when he finished third in the 250SX East class and scored his first AMA Supercross main event win in the wet at MetLife Stadium. He added a second professional supercross win at Philadelphia in 2024 and opened the 2025 250SX East season with another victory. In outdoor motocross, he has regularly placed inside the top ten in the AMA Motocross Championship, with his best full-season result of ninth coming in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Other Wins and Performances
Outside the major championships, Anstie won the 2022 FIM Supercross World Championship runner-up spot with two race wins, then claimed the title itself in 2023 with a dominant final round in Australia. He has also won the Australian Supercross Championship in the SX2 class in both 2022 and 2023, underlining his standing as a global supercross competitor. At the Motocross des Nations, his two race wins and best individual rider performance in 2017 remain the highlight of his national team career.
Max Anstie Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Max Anstie comes from a true motocross family, with his father, Mervyn Anstie, having raced professionally at the FIM Motocross World Championship level. Growing up around his father’s career gave Max an early understanding of professional racing, training routines, and the demands of international competition. That family connection to the sport is often cited as a major influence on his decision to pursue a career in motocross and supercross.
Personal Life
Max Anstie was born and raised in Newbury, England, United Kingdom, and has spent significant portions of his career living and racing in the United States. Public details about his personal relationships, marital status, and family life outside of racing are limited, and he is known primarily for his professional achievements in the sport.
2025 Season Performance
Max Anstie entered the 2025 AMA Supercross Championship carrying strong form from his move to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing. He won the opening round of the 250SX East class and built an early championship lead by following that victory with a hard-fought second-place finish at the next round after a red flag led to a staggered restart. His speed in the opening stages of the season confirmed that he remained one of the leading riders in the 250SX East field.
His season was disrupted by a qualifying crash at the fifth round, which left him with a broken fibula and forced him out of the remainder of the supercross championship. The injury also caused him to miss the entire 2025 AMA National Motocross Championship season, a major setback in a year in which he had targeted both outdoor titles with his new team.
Anstie returned to action in time for the 2025 SuperMotocross playoff rounds, finishing fifteenth in the final standings. Despite the disrupted campaign, his early-season pace and his integration with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing have laid a strong foundation for the years ahead, and he is expected to return at full strength for the upcoming supercross and motocross seasons.
