If there is one thing that the sport of motocross has, it’s a very rich history. Way back in 1957 when Swedish legend Bill Nilsson was crowned FIM motocross 500cc world champion, nobody could have imagined the sport would grow to the level it is now.
Back in the early years of the GP series, the sport travelled throughout Europe often having as much as three GP’s in Belgium, two in Holland, and the rest in countries like Italy, England, Spain, Germany, France and Ireland. While the sport did head to countries like Russia, most rounds were confined to the main area of Europe.
In the 1960’s the sport reached a new level as riders like Roger De Coster, Joel Robert, Torsten Hallman and Heikki Mikkola arrived on the scene. Suzuki with the biggest and most powerful teams had taken over from Husqvarna and with De Coster and Robert they ruled the 250 and 500 classes. Not only did these two dominate in Europe but they travelled to places like America and Australia, widening the audience for the European based series.
It was possibly the most romantic era of GP motocross, when the sport was very fresh and not as professional as in this era. Nobody was surprised if a rider lit up a Marlboro on the start line or just after the race. Joel Robert was known for his party attitude, and Saturday night was sometimes a moment for the tough Belgian to relax with a beer and a smoke. De Coster finished with five 500cc world titles and Robert six 250cc titles.
The domination by Suzuki in the 125cc class from 1975 until 1984 was the most impressive run by a single brand in the sports history as they clocked off with ten titles in a row. Belgians Gaston Rahier (3), Harry Everts (3) and Eric Geboers (2), Japanese rider Akira Watanabe (1) and Italian Michele Rinaldi (1) were the victors.
Of course Honda arrived with huge budgets in the 1980’s and with their budget riders like Dave Thorpe, Eric Geboers, Georges Jobe and Andre Malherbe, enjoyed a lot of success. It was an era that the Honda team won an amazing nine 500cc titles in a row (1984 until 1992). Adding to their big bike success Geboers, Jean Michel Bayle and Trampas Parker added three titles in the 250cc class, and Bayle also won a title on the Honda in the 125cc class. British rider Graham Noyce and Belgian legend Andre Malherbe also won 500cc titles on the Honda in 1979, 80 and 81. So, that was 12 500cc titles in total in 14 years.
Not surprisingly the 1990’s and early 2000’s will be remembered as the Joel Smets and Stefan Everts era. The two Belgians swept everything, not only winning a bunch of motocross world championships, but also helping Team Belgium to a handful of MXoN victories.
Smets riding a Husaberg early in his career was all about hard work and being tough, while Everts was one of the most gifted riders in the sports history, also a hard worker, but it came so easily to him that it was pure poetry in motion. Everts with his ten world titles and Smets with his five, controlled many of their rivals. Everts is ranked number one in the all-time winners list for GP riders and Smets number four. That says it all.
That brings us to our current era. The era of the brilliant Sicilian Antonio Cairoli. As soon as Everts had retired the Italian hero arrived winning the first of his eight world titles in 1995 and reeling off another seven in the next nine years, only an injury in 2008 and a few points less than Christophe Pourcel in 2006 stopped a complete domination. Although some of the wins were with Yamaha, the majority were with KTM. Cairoli is the second best GP rider of all time if you go by GP wins and titles and is closing in on Everts’ number one spot.
It hasn’t just been the Cairoli era though. Who can forget the arrival of possibly two of the most exciting talents the sport has ever seen, in German sensation Ken Roczen and the Flying Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings. Both have won multiple GP’s and world championships in record time, and both stand at the very top of the sport at the moment. Roczen is the former FIM MX2 World Champion and current American 450cc champ, and Herlings has two World MX2 titles to his name.
KTM have also shown huge results in the last 10 years, winning the last seven MX2/125cc titles and the last five MXGP/MX1 titles. Their domination of the sport has caused other brands such as Honda and Kawasaki to boost their budgets, and sign the best riders in the world to match the might of Austria.
Bring on 2015, it might just be the most exciting MXGP season to date.
