1. Valentino Rossi
Who could ever match the skills of Valentino Rossi being the best motorcycle racer of all time? There is no other driver that could ever make his record of winning over nine world championships ever since riding in the 125cc group with an Aprilia RS125 in 1997 and up until 2009, winning his ninth title using the Yamaha YZR-M1 for Fiat Yamaha.
2. Jorge Lorenzo
Currently a rider for the Yamaha Factory Team, Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero has achieved his fulfillment of being a motorcycle racer when he became the 250cc World Champion in 2006 and 2007 with the Aprilia RSW 250, also being the MotoGP World Champion in 2010 thanks to the Yamaha YZR-M1.
3. Dani Pedrosa
Even though he was too small for his size, only standing at 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighing only 112.4 lbs, Daniel “Dani” Pedrosa Ramal, who was born in September 29, 1985, is a world champion in the 250cc Grands Prix, even being the youngest to win the prestigious title. He is more than meets the eye, even being world champion for two consecutive years in 2004 and 2005, while driving his Honda RSW250.
4. Casey Stoner
Being named as Australian of the Year can be amazing, especially if you are as young as you can be. Casey Stoner, who was born in 1985, had done so much in winning the MotoGP World Champion in 2007 and his second world championship in 2011, under Ducati Corse and Repsol Honda, respectively. His Ducati GP7 and the Honda RC212V had done wonders for him.
5. Michael Doohan
Michael “Mick” Doohan is a professional Australian racer that has been a Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion taking the first rank for five consecutive years from 1994 to 1998, driving a 500cc NSR500 under team Repsol Honda.
6. Andrea Dovizioso
Italians are known to have the passion for speed, which makes sense why Andrea Dovizioso is also in the pursuit of winning in the MotoGP. He started the career in 15 September 2007 when he mentioned that he would be stepping up for the higher class, including his old team. He has been consistent in placing fourth and fifth in most races, which made him a credible racer.
7. Ben Spies
With a unique riding style, even noticed with the elbows protruding outward, Ben Spies, who is also known as “Elbowz”, is a racer that began his career in professional motorcycling in the dawn of the new millennium. He was burning in the AMA Superbike series where he drove his Suzuki GSXR-1000 in winning the race in 2006, kept his title twice in 2007, once in 2008, and kept it again in World Superbike in 2009.
8. Nicky Hayden
The Kentucky Kid Nicky Hayden started his MotoGP career in 2003, racing for the Honda-HRC with his Honda RC211V, which gave him the world championship in 2006. This success was rooted back with the family that has been in motorsports, even having the same racing number, 69, as his father had in the old days.
9. Marco Simoncelli
It could be sad that he just passed away on 23 October because of the accident in the Malaysian Grand Prix on the Sepang International Circuit. However, Marco Simoncelli has been hailed as one of the best in his group who competed in the Road Racing World Championship for 10 years from 2002 until the moment he left. One of his most noted feats is when he won first place under 250cc with the Gilera RSA 250 while racing for Metis Gilera in 2008.
10. Randy de Puniet
When de Puniet started his career with the Honda RS125R, he became the French champion in 1998, even before he began his journey in MotoGP in 2006. In 2001, he has moved a level higher in the 250cc World Championship with the Aprilia RSV250 until he ended his career season finishing eighth on his fifth year with the Aprilia. He later expanded his vision for the MotoGP where he joined the Kawasaki Racing Team in 2006, Team LCR in 2008, and will continue his race with Pramac Racing riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP11.
