The first motorcycle was sold in 1894, a product of Germany,
while the first race of about 400 km was held in France only a few
years later. Until the 1950s, the World physician races were
command exclusively in Europe, and dominated by European
manufacturers. Mostly people knew the race winner riders as the
best bikers in the world.
Looking at GPs, of all classes, ever since the start of the
world championship in 1949, these are the riders at the time of
writing to have the most outright wins in world championship
events. Yes, you can make arguments for others – those with
careers shortened by injury, for instance, but in sheer, tangible
results this is as close as you’ll come to a definitive list.
One can only wonder how high on this ranking Casey Stoner
might have ended up if he hadn’t made the decision to retire
while still a mere 27-years-old. In fact, his 45 wins are equal to
the record of Jim Redman, but since Stoner took 38 of his on bikes, against just two for Redman, we’ve given him the
number 10 spot.
Given his dominance in 2013 and 2014 it almost seems a
surprise that Marquez isn’t higher on the list. But then again, he’s
only 22… At the moment, the majority of his wins have been on
smaller-class bikes, with ‘just’ 24 coming on Moto GP machines.
But he’s only had 48 Moto GP starts so far, which means his hit
rate is unbelievable (he’s already 11th in the all-time Moto GP
class race winners list).
Next time someone bleats about Dani Pedrosa having a
factory Honda ride, it might be worth pointing them at the fact
he’s one of the top 10 race winners of all time, despite being a
number two rider for most of his top-line career. And it’s not just
his smaller bike success that places him so high: just over half
(26) have been on top-class MotoGP bikes, which makes him
eigth on the all-time list in that category as well.
Britain's most successful rider of all time in terms of
championships, with GP titles in the
(x4) and 500cc
(x2) classes. Of all his wins, 11 were on 500s, which surprisingly
places him only 21st if this list was restricted to premier-class
successes.
Doohan is one of those riders that might have achieved so
much more than his already-impressive statistics suggest, if only
he hadn’t suffered horrible injuries and spent much of his every
single one of Doohan’s 54 wins is on a 500cc bike, which makes
his sixth position on the all-classes list look even more
impressive. On a list of top class wins only, he ranks higher still in
third place.
Another rider who might well rank higher on this list by the
time he retires, Lorenzo has also had to battle against a host of
other ‘aliens’ during his career. Can you imagine how many wins
he’d have if it wasn’t for the likes of Stoner, Rossi and Marquez?
Over half (38 and counting) have been on Moto GP machines,
making him quarter highest scorer of all spell in that class.
Nieto's position on the all-time list is sure to spark some
debate, since many of his wins were on the 50cc machines and
he never won a race on a 250 or even raced a 500. But you can’t
really argue with the fact that he stood on the top step of the
podium 90 times and won 13 championships during an
international career that spanned 22 years.
No, he’s still not the GOAT in terms of all-time wins. Not yet,
anyway. Rossi’s win rate might have been considerably slowed
(and you can only imagine where it might stand if he hadn’t spent
two fruitless years at Ducati), but he’s still competing as hard as
forever, and you can’t regulation out another ten victories to
match our number one rider. Rossi previously leads the stand if
you only count top-class wins, on 86.
Of course the number one on this list is Ago. He also heads
the tables when it comes to championship victories, on a total of
15 titles (all achieved between 1966 and 1975 – he was champ
on both 350s and 500s for five years running between 68 and 72.
These all discussed riders are known the best and expert riders of
the world.
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