World Motocross - Top Ten

With the season now behind us, we decided to rank our top ten riders in the World. What a season it has been, on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Jason Anderson, Aaron Plessinger, Eli Tomac, and so many other American riders put on a great show in their AMA National championships, and of course in the FIM World Motocross Championship, it was Jeffrey Herlings, Antonio Cairoli, Jorge Prado and Pauls Jonass of the Red Bull KTM Factory team that stole the show.

Our top ten has seven GP riders and three AMA riders, and last weekends MXoN did have some bearing on our top ten, as its the only way to really tell the two series competitors apart and as everyone remembered, it was a Euro domination.

1. Jeffrey Herlings: There is zero doubt that Jeffrey Herlings is the fast man on the planet. Not only is he the World MXGP champion, but he also dominated the American riders in the last 12 months, first in their own final race in 2017, and in the USGP. He then finished with a very nice 3-1-2 result at the MXoN, and only lost to his team-mate, Glenn Coldenhoff on the Sunday, so in fact you could nearly give him a 1-1 on team performance. Herlings is special, very special, and anyone who puts another rider close to him, is either blind, or dumb. Many people have mentioned him in the same sentence as Ricky Carmichael, Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli, and that is a very elite group, or which he already belongs. He has 84 GP victories, and four World championships. For a 24-year-old, that is unheard of in GP history.

2. Antonio Cairoli: Antonio Cairoli is for me the second-best motocross rider in the World in 2018, and his battles with Herlings this year will be written into motocross folk law. At 32 years of age, and clearly riding better than ever this legendary Sicilian deserved a championship in 2018, but unfortunately, that man Herlings was just too good. He went to the MXoN broken, worn out and feeling like an old man, but he still went 1-4-6, which placed him the third in the MXGP class behind Herlings and Paulin, and just ahead of Tomac. As the only man who really gave Herlings a fight on a consistent basis in 2018, its hard not to put him second in the World.

3. Eli Tomac: Eli Tomac, the AMA motocross champion and like the two guys above him, a special talent. His lightning speed makes him great to watch, and with three AMA motocross championships to his name, one in the 250 class and two in the 450 class, you have to give him respect. Tomac didn’t perform that well at the MXoN with DNF-4-7, but he still managed to finish fourth in the MXGP class and was the standout for team USA. While he might not be on the level of Herlings, he is probably close to Cairoli, and no doubt in 2019, he will get his chance to once again come up against the GP riders at the MXoN in Assen.

4. Jorge Prado: The World MX2 champion has had a brilliant year. One of the youngest World champions ever, a class winner at the MXoN, and maybe the brightest talent in World motocross. His future looks secured, and while many don’t see anyone racing with Herlings for a long time, if this kid improves enough, who knows what will happen. He doesn’t lack confidence, as that opening moto of this years MXoN showed. Leading the MXGP/MX2 race and finishing with 5-3-3 for the weekend proved he is the stand-out 250 rider in the World. Wait for 2019, because its hard to see anyone coming close to him in MX2, and the MXoN at Assen will be massive for him (remember him battling Herlings at Assen in his GP debut).

5. Tim Gajser: The two-time World motocross champion began to show signs of what he is capable of as the season closed up, and he finished the season fourth in the MXGP points, claiming a 2-2 result in the final round or the series. Early season injuries cost him a lot of momentum, and no doubt with a good winter he can come back and shine like he did in his championship winning seasons. Beating Herlings though, that is not likely to happen.

6. Marvin Musqin: You have to have the Frenchman in the top ten due to his solid American series, finishing second to Tomac, and putting in some victory performances. It is hard to judge after last weekend where Musquin stands against the top MXGP riders. Is he better than countryman, Romain Febvre? I don’t know. But he has been a solid performer for years and is without question inside the top ten of 450 riders in the World.

7. Aaron Plessinger: The 22-year-old won the American 250 supercross championship and the AMA 250 Outdoor championship, and without question is a talent. While he isn’t somebody who you might expect to be a massive star in the sport, he is solid, and his MX2 qualification race at the MXoN, until his crash showed that he is right up there with the best 250 riders in the World. He will move to the 450 class in 2019, and with his size, he should handle it well.

8. Clement Desalle: Desalle has proven over and over again that he is World class. Always around the top three in the World, and again this year a GP winner. While nobody could match the KTM boys in 2018, the Belgian snuck a GP victory in there and was always working hard to try and keep with Herlings and Cairoli. After missing a lot of MXoN events due to injury he rode this year, and while he did get a fifth in one moto, a DNF and 27^th place made it a poor weekend for the usually solid MXoN rider.

9. Gautier Paulin: The fifth best guy in MXGP was once again a star for Team France in the MXoN. He is a class above most in the World and while he didn’t have a great 2018 season, fifth in the stacked MXGP class is worth something. He went 4-2-3 at the MXoN and led France to their fifth victory in a row. A move to Yamaha in 2019 might bring him closer to Herlings and Cairoli, but no matter what happens next year, he finished off 2018 with a bang, just as he has done the last 10 years at the MXoN. A class act and a solid World ranked rider.

10. Romain Febvre: Three Frenchies in the top ten, and after last weekend it isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise two of them didn’t even ride the MXoN. Yes, the French are the strongest nation in World motocross at the moment, and Febvre continues to show strength, under tough times. Like Paulin it wasn’t a brilliant season, but sixth in MXGP and some podium finishes prove he still has it. The 2015 World MXGP champion needs to take a good rest in winter and come back strong in 2019, otherwise he slips out of our top ten and Ken Roczen might take his place.

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