As much as racing is about talent and tenacity, there's also a giant side-order of luck involved in the career of every rider; the ꦅroll of the dice can mark one out for greatness while another disappears and deny some hard-working, race-winning riders from ever having the championship trophy on their mantelpiece.

The same luck can work the other way, too. Riders with fewer career race wins tha🐷n anyone on our top 10 list have walked away with the championship, whether due to ill fortune of others or the ability to sustain a string of solid podium finishes while more flamboyant race winn🔯ers throw points away.

Of course there are endless question marks over the unfulfilled potential of riders with careers cut short by injury or worse. Would Marco ꦰSimoncelli have been a champion? Could Daijiro Kato have been Japan's first top-class title winner? These are impossible questions, so we've stuck to a list that's supported by fact; race wins. We've looked purely at wins in the top class - 500cc or MotoGP - and at riders who never took a title at that level.