Of course it is impossible to really know who belongs in that list. Some names have to be in there, but what order would you give a rider who won many Grands Prix in the 1960’s against a rider who won many GPs in the 1980’s or in this present era. Where they tougher back in the old days, are they softer now.

We decided to take a look at the statistics and ask some people who know a little about motocross and put together a list of riders. It won’t give you the top ten as you might have seen it, but it will give you something to think about, and give you the chance to see the statistics of these motocross hero’s.

Ask anyone on the street who is the greatest British rider of all time and you might often get the name Dave Thorpe. A three time World 500cc champion and a multiple Grand Prix winner (22 in total). Thorpe is at the top of our list, mainly due to the fact he did win more World titles than any other British rider and he also had a pretty good record against the American riders in Motocross of Nations battle.

Thorpe came into the sport at a time when we dearly needed somebody to look up to. 1979 World 500cc champion Graham Noyce was beginning to lose contact with the leading 500cc riders and the sport in England was looking for a new king. Thorpe the young man who had ran roughshod through the schoolboys and came into the Grand Prix scene in stunning fashion.

Another rider who deserves a place in the top ten is two time World 500cc champion Jeff Smith. Smith was of course the first British hero, winning world titles in 1964 and 1965 and 25 GP victories (22 in 500cc and 3 in 250cc). A BSA factory rider in the era when riders from Great Britain owned World motocross. Smith was a hardnosed rider who didn’t give an inch, and like many riders from that era preferred a fight on the track rather than the safe route to the winner’s box.

While Thorpe was far too young to race against Smith, he did watch him as a small boy. Thorpe father Keith was also a motocross support from the 1960’s and Thorpe senior recalled those glory days.

“I did get to watch him (Smith) racing when I was a child,” Thorpe said. “My father was always telling me stories about the riders from that era and we did go to the races together long before I started racing seriously. You know men like Draper, Archer, the Rickman brothers; you could have them all in a top ten. He (Thorpe’s father) spoke a lot about Smith, and I obviously took an interest in the history of our sport. It is those riders who give riders like me, or the riders of today the history to follow and try and be a world champion.”

“I mean Andy Lee, there was a guy who did a lot of his races in France, but he was really a fast rider in his time. Others when I was a young man who was good were guys like Roger Harvey, Vic Allen, some really good riders have been fast in England over the years, we have always had fast riders, some have made it on the continent, but many didn’t. Greg Hanson a perfect example. He would push me time and time again in the British championships, but when we got to the Grands Prix, I could lap him. I used to look at him and ask why is that. I still can’t work it out why some riders are so fast at home, but can’t get that speed at the GP’s.”

“To me Kurt Nicoll had everything. The problem for Kurt he came up against HRC and we had a very strong team. We had three really good riders and the support from Honda was very good. I think at first Kurt might have lacked natural talent, but they said that also about me at first. I think he overcame that and he had mental and physical strength. He was also a unlucky in I think it was 1991 when he got hurt. To me though Kurt wasn’t lacking a piece of the puzzle, he had everything.”

“I mean guys like Rob Herring, Paul Malin; they were missing something, while somebody like James Dobb obviously wasn’t. James won a world title, it doesn’t matter what people think of how he won it (many people feel the one moto format helped Dobb to his title), at the end of the day he won a world title and that is something that not to many people can say in their chosen sport. James also raced in America and won races there. I rate James Dobb in my top ten for sure.”

“Guys like Malin, Herring and Whatley, on any given day they could beat anyone in the world, they won Grands Prix, they were really good riders, but they lacked something to become a world champion.”

“When I came into the sport it was people like Neil Hudson and Graham Noyce who inspired me. Both really good riders, both different personalities. I mean Graham was so fast, and he worked hard, but he also likes to have fun and he will admit that himself, he was enjoying life. That was his thing and that was okay for him I guess, but it was also something that I didn’t want to do.”

“If I had to pick a top ten (not including himself) I would have Smith in there, Nicoll, Noyce, Hudson, Bickers, Dobb, Whatley, Malin, Herring and Searle. I think we have had so many names in the sport in England. Searle is in there, and his story isn’t over. He has been very impressive and if he can go to America and do well there, he might just come back here and win a world title.”

Part two tomorrow.