Who is the best motocross racer in the world today?
The 2017 Motocross of Nations is right around the corner, and chances are good that, with the exception of newly crowned Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Champion Eli Tomac, the best motocross racer in the world will be there, representing his country in a race that truly offers the top motocross racers in the world a chance to square off against each other.
Even though the Motocross of Nations is a team race, there’s still plenty of individual pride at stake as there are also individual event winners to be crowned in the three classes, so the competition can be fierce on two levels. That got us to thinking about the events we witnessed this season in both the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship. Perhaps now moreso than in the past few seasons, pinning down just who is the best motocross racer in the world today is a hard call to make. After all, the best motocross racer in the world title is nebulous for sure, seeing as we rarely get to see all of them on the track for more than the MXoN or the MXGP of USA. That pretty much rules out such helpers as points and statistics to codify who can truly lay claim to the unofficial title.
In the past, determining who was the best was fairly simple–at least when Ricky Carmichael was still racing. Strong arguments could also be made for James Stewart in his prime and current MXGP World Champion Antonio Cairoli during certain seasons in the past. This year is a bit different, as we saw Cairoli earn his ninth career MXGP title in a series that is arguably as tough or tougher than it has been since the early days when the FIM World Champion was truly recognized as the best motocross racer in the world. Then, of course, there is Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Champion Tomac. There’s no question that Tomac can be the absolute fastest on a given day, but his consistency certainly wasn’t what we expected in 2017 even though he did land the prestigious AMA national title. And let’s not forget Lucas Oil 250cc Pro Motocross Champion Zach Osborne or FIM MX2 World Champion Pauls Jonass. Even though they race in classes that are not considered the premier classes in their respective series, both have to be considered tough customers.
But, right now more than ever, the argument could be made that you don’t even have to hold a title to be considered the best motocross racer in the world. Jeffrey Herlings and Ken Roczen are prime examples. Herlings is a strong argument for the unofficial crown right now, seeing as how he not only dominated the last few rounds of the FIM MXGP season but also beat Tomac not only in the MXGP of USA but also at the AMA Ironman National in what was Herlings’ Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Championship debut. Roczen, meanwhile, was clearly the best in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in 2016, but the injury that the Team Honda rider suffered during the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series left him sidelined throughout 2017. Even so, it doesn’t mean that at one point he wasn’t the best motocross racer in the world, and maybe some think that he is still is.
That said, we want to hear from you. Answer our poll question and tell us who you think is the best motocross racer in the world today. Who is the top dog right now? Is it Cairoli? Herlings? Tomac? one of the others in our poll or someone we completely neglected to mention? Give it some serious thought, and then give us your answer.
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