MXoN - The Legends
It isn’t hard to look at the line-up for this year’s Monster Energy Motocross of Nations and be grateful so many top line riders have accepted the challenge to race for their country.
Some of the biggest names from both sides of the Atlantic. Multiple World and American champions and with names like Cairoli, Tomac, Roczen, Lawrence, Lawrence, Gajser, Renaux, Jonass, De Wolf, Adamo, Shimoda and Langenfelder, the list is mouthwatering.
Our legends list below and even further down the page, the AMA and FIM champions list.
Acerbis supports MXlarge and the sport: Acerbis motorsport
Antonio Cairoli: I cannot believe I am still writing the name, Antonio Cairoli as an MXoN performer. At 40 years of age, and still super fast, do not be surprised if he pulls out another marvelous result at Ironman this weekend. Winning his first world title in 2005, he added more in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017. Has an MXoN victory to his name and has 94 GP victories. Yes, Mr Cairoli is the leader when it comes to stats. He might be 40, but he is without questions, the fastest 40 year old on the planet.
Eli Tomac: Eli Tomac is a leader in major championships, with his first coming in 2013 when he scored the AMA 250 motocross championship. Since then, Tomac has won four AMA 450 motocross championships and two AMA supercross championships. He also has one MXoN victory with Team USA in 2022. Tomac has been the backbone of AMA motocross for a decade now and his accomplishments below amongst the best ever in USA. He sits third in the all time win list behind just Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart and is just one win of joining Stewart in second place (97 to 98). Oh, he also has a world supercross to his name, after winning the 2024 WSX championship.
Jett Lawrence: Now, this gets complicated, because if the US promoters and media are counting the SMX as a major championship, we need to count his three Supermotocross titles from 2023, 2024 and 2025. I am not a fan of doing it, but I get the feeling, this title will become more respected, and it will be counted as a major title in the future. Its just three rounds and I would usually leave it out, but damn, I am an Aussie and want them to count. Lawrence picked up his first major title in the 2021 AMA 250 motocross championship, then added another 250 outdoor title in 2022, before adding the AMA 450 motocross championship in 2023 and 2025, an AMA supercross title in 2024, plus those three SMX titles. Whatever you want to say about Lawrence, he might end up being the GOAT, but he first has to deal with names like Deegan and his brother Hunter, before he stacks up more championships, but it looks good for the young Aussie. Oh, he is also the defending MXoN champion with Team Australia. What a list for somebody so young.
Tim Gajser: Probably the most unappreciated rider from this legend list. Also, a five-time World champion, with four of those titles coming in the very tough MXGP class. The HRC man won his first championship in 2015 in the MX2 class, and added 450 titles in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022. He also has 52 Grand Prix victories, and will no doubt pass the legendary number of 50, which we have always admired as Joel Smets held the record for the most GP wins with 50 for so many decades. Gajser has a great shot and winning more World titles, and I am pretty sure he will. Also, a complete gentleman and while it seems unlikely that Slovenian will ever win the MXoN, Gajser has won his class at this event and could easily repeat that this weekend.
Ken Roczen: Way, way back in 2011, Ken Roczen became a World MX2 champion. Damn, that is 13 years ago, and he is still more than capable of winning his class at the 2024 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations. Roczen has added two AMA450 titles to his name and also a couple of World supercross championships. Now, if we are counting Jett Lawrences SMX championships, then we have to count the Germans WSX championships, right? Roczen has suffered badly from injuries in his career and had it not been for that horrible arm injury in 2017, he would probably have a lot more success in the sport. Also, an MXoN winner in 2012, when Germany shocked the World and beat Team USA and stopped their seven-year run of success.
Fantastic 13 – Major Title Men
Antonio Cairoli 9 FIM titles
Jett Lawrence 8 AMA titles
Eli Tomac 8 AMA and FIM titles
Tim Gajser 5 FIM titles
Ken Roczen 5 AMA and FIM titles
Romain Febvre 2 FIM title
Hunter Lawrence 1 AMA title
Maxime Renaux 1 FIM title
Kay De Wolf 1 FIM title
Andrea Adamo 1 FIM title
Simon Langenfelder 1 FIM title
Jo Shimoda 1 AMA title
Pauls Jonass 1 FIM title