It is always hard to say who is the real GOAT of World motocross (supercross). I mean Ricky Carmichael with his 15 championships indoors and outdoors seems likely to be number one, his beating of “The King” Stefan Everts in the 2003 and 2005 Motocross of Nations gives him the edge, although I might add the two met twice at the MXdN and its 2-2 between them, Everts getting the edge of RC in the 1998 and 1999 MXdN events, although RC was young and on a 125cc machine, but still, I would have loved to have seen Everts on the Honda in the 1990s up against RC in his peak, because I don’t think there would have been much in it.

To me a handful of riders stand out as possible GOATS, the first being Frenchman Jean Michel Bayle. Now Bayle might only have four titles, two in Europe and three in America, but he snatched those titles very quickly in 1988 (125cc World title), 1989 (250cc World title), and in 1991 (AMA 500cc, 250cc and AMA supercross champions) and then disappeared to MotoGP, but lets be honest, had he hung around in Europe or America, he would easily have made a bunch of titles, and speak to anyone and his talent had never been seen and probably hasn’t been seen since.

Stefan Everts with his 10 World titles and 11 race wins at the Motocross of Nations is right up there, and while he never raced in America full time, he was clearly the man in Europe for two decades. Unfortunately for Stefan, the American’s seemed better in his era and that casts some doubt on his place as the Greatest motocross rider of all time, but when it comes to GP, well, he is the man.

How about Roger De Coster, who ruled the 500cc class when it was clearly the best class in the World, and he also travelled to America, Australia and many other places and ruled the scene there. I just get the feeling he is a lot better than his five 500cc titles.

Antonio Cairoli has a bunch of titles and like Everts a bunch of MXoN race wins, along with Everts and Glenn Coldenhoff the only man to go 1-1-1-1 at the Nations and his incredible time in the sport, coming from the south of Italy, where motocross wasn’t anything like in California, Florida or Belgium. Tony might not have the records, but his story is an incredibly special one.

I didn’t count 125/250 supercross titles in the list below, because that whole East Coast/West Coast thing is nice to look at, but it is after all just a regional title, not a national title and that is where it belongs.

Obviously the American riders often got a crack at more than one title in their season, and that is why only Everts and Cairoli are in the top ten, but then again, names like Villopoto, Dungey, Johnson, Hannah, Ward, McGrath and Stanton are pretty good names to have in anyone’s top ten.

You have to rate those AMA titles as high as the World championship, and while those early years of Gary Jones might not be the same worth as a World title in the 1970s, this is a list of titles and be it AMA or FIM, they were all hard to achieve.

Current MXGP riders Jeffrey Herlings is 20^th, and Tim Gajser 29^th, but both these guys should be higher and no doubt will end up higher as their careers reach their peaks and Jorge Prado could easily move into the top 45 in years to come. Same goes for Ken Roczen who is 40^th and Eli Tomac who is 24^th, both will move up the list in years to come and one of them will 100% by the end of the 2020 AMA supercross season, or at least so it seems. Cairoli, Herlings, Tomac, Gajser and Roczen are the only five current riders in the top 45.

Top 45 All Time List

1. Ricky Carmichael 15 (10 motocross 5 supercross)

2. Stefan Everts 10

3. Antonio Cairoli 9

4. Ryan Villopoto 9 (5 motocross 4 supercross)

5. Ryan Dungey 8 (4 motocross 4 supercross)

6. Jeremy McGrath 8 (7 supercross 1 motocross)

7. Ricky Johnson 7 (5 motocross 2 supercross)

8. Bob Hannah 7 (4 motocross 3 supercross)

9. Jeff Ward 7 (5 motocross 2 supercross)

10. Jeff Stanton 6 (3 motocross 3 supercross)

11. Joel Robert 6

12. Broc Glover 6 (6 motocross)

13. Jean Michel Bayle 5 (4 motocross 1 supercross)

14. Roger De Coster 5

15. Eric Geboers 5

16. Georges Jobe 5

17. Joel Smets 5

18. James Stewart 5 (3 motocross 2 supercross)

19. Greg Albertyn 4 (4 motocross)

20. Jeffrey Herlings 4

21. Heikki Mikkola 4

22. Harry Everts 4

23. Torsten Hallman 4

24. Eli Tomac 4 (4 motocross)

25. Mike Kiedrowski 4 (4 motocross)

26. David Bailey 4 (3 motocross 1 supercross)

27. Mark Barnett 4 (3 motocross 1 supercross)

28. Jeff Emig 4 (3 motocross 1 supercross)

29. Tim Gajser 3

30. Gaston Rahier 3

31. Chad Reed 3 (2 supercross 1 motocross)

32. Grant Langston 3 (3 motocross)

33. Andre Malherbe 3

34. Dave Thorpe 3

35. Paul Friedrichs 3

36. Guennady Moisseev 3

37. Marty Smith 3

38. Alessio Chiodi 3

39. Doug Henry 3

40. Ken Roczen 3

41. Kent Howerton 3

42. Micky Dymond 3

43. Gary Jones 3

44. Tony DiStefano 3

45. Hakan Carlqvist 2