3. Jean-Michel Bayle
1988 125cc World MX Champion- 1989 250cc World MX Champion
- 1991 250cc National MX Champion
- 1991 500cc National MX Champion
- Only racer ever to win overalls in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc MXGPs and 125cc, 250cc and 500cc AMA MX Nationals (and he also won 250cc Supercross races and a championship as well)
Jean-Michel Bayle may be the most talented motocross racer in history. The Frenchman spent little time adjusting to any class or category, winning a 125cc World Championship, then moving up to win the 250cc title the following year. And that year, in 1989, he actually raced some early-season supercrosses and some AMA Nationals, winning the AMA 250cc MX National at Gatorback, and the 500cc MX National at Unadilla. He moved to the USA full-time in 1990, and although he finished second to Jeff Stanton in the 250cc Supercross Series, he was forced to move down to the 125cc class to race the Nationals, as was/is traditional when a racer comes to the USA from another country. Bayle won three 125cc Nationals that year before an injury forced him out of the championship while he was leading. In 1991, Bayle became the only racer in history to win the AMA 250cc Supercross, 250cc Motocross and 500cc Motocross National Championships in the same year. At the end of the year, Bayle went out and won the 1991 500cc USGP at Glen Helen, rounding out a career where he literally won in every major MX and SX racing division in the world. He put in a sort of mediocre effort with the number-one plate the following year in 1992, then left the sport altogether and went road racing in 1993. He was 23.
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