Marc Marquez
Wayne Rainey
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Marc Marquez leads 5 of 5 categories. Our all-time ranking places Marc Marquez at #3 and Wayne Rainey at #9.
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The case for Marc Marquez
Nine world championships: 125cc in 2010, Moto2 in 2012 and seven premier-class titles in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025. He became the youngest premier champion at 20 years and 266 days, having already become the youngest premier-class winner at Austin aged 20 years and 63 days. In 2014 he won 13 of 18 races, still the single-season record. Through the end of 2025 he had 73 premier-class wins, second only to Rossi, 99 career wins and 126 premier podiums from 206 starts. The 2025 season was the most statistically dominant on record: 11 Grands Prix, 14 Sprints and 545 points, a total no rider had reached, in his first year with the factory Ducati. It came after five operations on his right arm, 30 races missed and 2,184 days between championships, which is the strongest single argument in his favour.
The case for Wayne Rainey
Three consecutive 500cc world championships from 1990 to 1992, with 24 wins and 65 podiums from 94 Grand Prix starts, all achieved in what is widely regarded as the deepest premier-class field ever assembled, against Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and John Kocinski. Rainey's Yamaha YZR500 was rarely the fastest bike; his method was relentless consistency and a refusal to make the error his rivals eventually would. He was leading the 1993 championship by 11 points from Schwantz when he crashed at Misano in September, breaking his spine and losing the use of his legs. He was 32 and had won three of the previous four titles. He returned as a team owner and later raced hand-controlled machinery, and the sport's modern safety standards owe much to what happened to him.