One race into the 2026 AMA Nationals, and a third of the way through the MXGP championship and I have been desperate to give my opinion of the top ten motocross riders in the World. When supercross was running, it was impossible to do and even now, with just one round done in 2026 in USA, it’s a rough guess, but here we go anyway.

1. Hunter Lawrence: No doubt about it, after his performance at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations last year, and his 1-1 performance at Pala, Hunter Lawrence is the best motocross rider in the world at the moment. Now, once his younger brother gets fit again, then who knows, but for now, the older Lawrence has shown ridiculous speed outdoors and his slaying of four-time world champion, Jorge Prado last weekend says a lot. No doubt, the momentum Hunter will build in the coming weeks will see him maybe improve on his Pala performance, and for his rivals, which is scary.

2. Lucas Coenen: Despite the fact Prado is a four-time champion in Europe, I just have to go with Lucas Coenen as the second fastest rider in the world. The 19-year-old has Herlings like speed and the Jeffrey Herlings he is beating in 2026, just seems like a better version of the one Prado was beating in 2023 and 2024. I don’t expect the Belgian kid to go to Thunder Valley and come second, the conditions won’t allow that, but if any AMA guys turned up at Kegums this weekend, I would tip the KTM man to battle whoever they send.

3. Jorge Prado: You have to put Prado third, as he dominated the GP guys in 2023 and 2024 and his second overall at Pala showed that he isn’t messing around this year. Back on the KTM, this is the Prado we all expected last year and while his testing skills might be questionable in setting up a bike, his sheer talent has never been a question. He will get overall wins in 2026 and might even get himself an AMA championship.

4. Jeffrey Herlings: 17 years racing Grand Prix motocross and still, at times, the fastest man on the planet. I have been a fan since 2010, that day in Valkenswaard and this weekend in Kegums, he goes for his 10th GP win there and his 116th in his career. He has beaten Lucas Coenen on three occasions this year and believe me, that is something, because the young Belgian might just be the fastest man on the planet at the moment. Herlings DNF last weekend might have cost him a championship, but you know he will be adding to that 115 GP wins and with a little luck (wouldn’t that be nice), he can still get his sixth world title.

5. Jett Lawrence: While still injured, or at least, recovering from injury, I cannot put him higher than fifth, but within a month, he could easily be number one. This sensational talent has a lot of work to do, to get close to his brother and Prado, but from all around him, work ethic is the least of his problems. Can he come back to his best, with an ankle that is playing silly buggers? What we did see in Pala was a guy who hasn’t races since November last year and who is favouring his ankle. What we get this weekend in Hangtown, might tell us if he moves up this list or not.

6. Haiden Deegan: I know, he finished fifth in the Pala opener, and he hasn’t shown anything yet outdoors that allows him to be sixth in the list, but you get a feeling that this kid will be a podium contender at Hangtown and while its hard to place him above the guys ahead of him in this list, there isn’t a lot to be excited about behind him. Running his mouth all the time can make him hard to like, but you also gotta love it. Bob Hannah of this era and that brings fans to the sport.

7. Romain Febvre: The defending MXGP champion is really having an up and down season and not one like his past few. Not really looking like a GP winner so far this year, but he is still third in the MXGP championship points. Hard to know what the problem is, maybe bike-set up, maybe age, maybe just the fact Coenen and Herlings are on another level at the moment. I sure hope the Kawasaki factory rider can get up to speed and fight for GP wins, or even podiums, because at the moment, his performances are just a shadow of what he is really capable of.

8. Justin Cooper: A dark horse in any series he competes, but he continues to be one of the most consistent riders in the world and his fourth place in Pala was impressive. The fact he beat both Jett Lawrence and Deegan in the opening race last weekend says enough about how good he is, and when Team USA is picked in a few months’ time, you would assume he is a good shot at being on one of the 450s.

9. Kay De Wolf: I am throwing de Wolf in the mix, just because of potential, rather than results. His season started with injury, and he is down in sixth place in the championship points, behind Yamaha riders, Tim Gajser and Maxime Renaux, but he just shows things that make you excited once everything clicks. He beat Herlings in the sand in a Dutch race and you just know, at some point this year, he will get a GP win. Maybe even this coming weekend in Latvia.

10. Tim Gajser: Like Romain Febvre, this 2026 version of Tim Gajser isn’t the rider we have come to know over time. He has just one moto win this year, but hey, a moto win over Lucas Coenen and Jeffrey Herlings is really something, as those two are in brilliant form. He also has nine top three finishes. Gajser has had some big crashes, and we haven’t seen that often since the early days of his 450 career. I hope he gets it together soon, because it’s sad to see a GP legend running outside the top three.