Jorge Prado has joined an exclusive group of foreign riders who have won an AMA Pro Motocross round in the premier class.
The Spaniard accomplished the feat in dominant fashion on August 29 at Ironman Raceway, sweeping both motos to win the final round of the 2026 championship and claim his first overall victory in AMA Pro Motocross.
But where does Prado rank among the foreign riders who have won in the U.S.? Which countries have produced the most winners? And just how many victories have foreign riders accumulated throughout the history of the championship?
Here is a look at the names, nationalities and numbers behind this exclusive group.
An important clarification
All of the victories included in this list belong to the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, the national championship officially established by the AMA in 1972.
Before that, motocross in the United States went through several different stages, with the Inter-AM and Trans-AMA series playing major roles in the sport’s early development. The Inter-AM began in 1966 and featured many of the world’s top international riders, but it was not sanctioned by the AMA.
The Trans-AMA series also attracted a large number of foreign stars, but its scoring and championship structure did not recognize foreign riders in the same way as American competitors.
That created some unusual situations in the history books.
Belgian legend Roger DeCoster, for example, won four Trans-AMA championships. British rider Kurt Nicoll and Czech star Vlastimil Valek also made their mark, with Valek scoring more points than any other rider during the 1971 Trans-AMA season. However, the championship was awarded to Gary Jones, the highest-finishing American in seventh place overall.
For that reason, this list begins in 1972, when the AMA officially established the national motocross championship that evolved into the AMA Pro Motocross Championship we know today. The other series continued for a few years, but gradually lost relevance before eventually disappearing.
The Netherlands: Pierre Karsemakers & Jeffrey Herlings
Pierre Karsemakers could arguably be considered one of the early mentors of American motocross. The Dutchman arrived in the United States in the early 1970s, when the sport was still putting down roots, and competed across several series throughout the country.
His success was so significant that the AMA introduced what became known as the «Karssemakers Rule» in 1974. The regulation required foreign riders to reside in the United States for two years before they could score championship points.
The rule cost Karssemakers a legitimate shot at the 1974 title, although it was eventually repealed the following year.
Officially, Karssemakers is credited with 23 AMA Pro Motocross victories, making him one of the most successful foreign riders in championship history.
It took 41 years after Karsemakers’ final U.S. victory for another Dutch rider to win an AMA Pro Motocross round.
In 2017, Jeffrey Herlings, already out of contention for the MXGP World Championship, decided to travel to the United States for the final round of the AMA Pro Motocross season at Ironman. Herlings swept both motos for a perfect 1-1 overall in his only AMA Pro Motocross appearance.
Sweden: Gunnar Lindstrom
Gunnar Lindstrom had competed in the Motocross World Championship before Husqvarna brought him to the United States in 1969 as part of the company’s efforts to help build and expand the sport.
Like Karsemakers, many of Lindstrom’s successes came during an era of different championships, changing regulations and complicated eligibility rules. As a result, only two official AMA Pro Motocross victories are credited to him, both coming in 1972.
Those remain the only premier-class AMA Pro Motocross victories by a Swedish rider.
Lindstrom’s legacy, however, remains very much alive in the American paddock. His son, Lars Lindstrom, is the current Honda HRC team director in the United States.
Germany: Ken Roczen
The German arrived in the United States after establishing himself as a world champion in MX2 and quickly became one of the biggest stars in American motocross.
Roczen won the AMA Pro Motocross 450 Class championship in 2014 and 2016, while accumulating 21 premier-class victories.
That total still places him 10th on the all-time 450 Class wins list, despite the fact that his most recent overall victory came at Thunder Valley in 2022.
Roczen’s career also includes one of the most remarkable comeback stories in modern motocross. After suffering severe injuries in 2017, he returned to the highest level of the sport and continued to collect wins and podium finishes against several generations of championship contenders.
France: Bayle, Pichon, Tortelli, Ferrandis & Musquin
France has been one of the biggest exporters of motocross talent to the United States for decades.
In fact, France is the foreign country with the most individual riders to win in AMA Pro Motocross history, highlighting the deep competitive connection between the French and American motocross scenes.
Jean-Michel Bayle was the pioneer. The Frenchman arrived in the United States in the early 1990s and became one of the most influential European riders in American motocross history. Bayle scored six premier-class victories, proving that European riders could not only compete in America, but dominate.
Mickael Pichon scored one victory, Sébastien Tortelli won three, Dylan Ferrandis collected six, and Marvin Musquin leads them all with nine premier-class victories.
Together, those five riders have established France as one of the strongest foreign forces in the history of AMA Pro Motocross, with winners spanning multiple generations.
South Africa: Greg Albertyn & Grant Langston
South Africa has a particularly interesting place in AMA Pro Motocross history.
Greg Albertyn and Grant Langston combined for eight premier-class victories, with Albertyn accounting for five and Langston three.
Yet both men managed something even more significant: they won the 450 Class championship.
Albertyn captured the title in 1999, while Langston became champion in 2007 in one of the most unusual championship seasons in AMA Pro Motocross history.
Langston won individual motos throughout the season, but remarkably never won an overall during the championship.
His consistency, however, allowed him to accumulate enough points to secure the title.
It was a perfect example of one of the fundamental realities of motocross: championships are won not only by winning races, but by consistently finishing ahead of your title rivals.
Australia: The Lawrence Brothers, Reed & Metcalfe
Before the Lawrence brothers became dominant forces in the premier class, Chad Reed was the first Australian to regularly put his country’s flag at the top of the AMA Pro Motocross podium.
The two-time AMA Supercross champion collected 10 premier-class victories, while Brett Metcalfe added another win for Australia.
Then came Jett and Hunter Lawrence, who took Australia’s numbers to another level.
Jett currently sits sixth on the all-time premier-class wins list with 28 victories.
Hunter, meanwhile, has seven premier-class wins, six of them coming during the 2026 season as he finally captured his first 450 Class AMA Pro Motocross championship.
Combined, the four Australians have accumulated 46 premier-class victories, making Australia one of the most successful foreign nations in AMA Pro Motocross history.
Spain: Jorge Prado
The most recent addition to the list is Jorge Prado.
The Spaniard earned his place in the club in emphatic fashion, sweeping both motos at Ironman Raceway to win the final round of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
It marked the 127th premier-class overall victory by a foreign rider in AMA Pro Motocross history.
Prado’s Ironman win extended the current streak of foreign overall victories to 13 consecutive rounds.
The streak began on July 19, 2022, when Chase Sexton won at Washougal. Since then, every premier-class overall has been won by a non-American rider.
The Lawrence brothers have been at the center of that run, accounting for the vast majority of those victories over the past several seasons. Now, Jorge Prado has added his name to the streak.
Numbers & Statictis
USA vs The rest of the World
| Nationality | Wins |
|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 USA | 636 |
| 🌎 Foreign riders | 127 |
| TOTAL | 763 |
Wins by country
| Country | Total wins |
|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 46 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 25 |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 24 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 21 |
| 🇦🇺 South-Africa | 8 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | 2 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 1 |
All-time Foreign riders winners
| Rank | Rider | Country | Total wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jett Lawrence | 🇦🇺 | 28 |
| 2 | Pierre Karsemakers | 🇳🇱 | 23 |
| 3 | Ken Roczen | 🇩🇪 | 21 |
| 4 | Chad Reed | 🇦🇺 | 10 |
| 5 | Marvin Musquin | 🇫🇷 | 9 |
| 6 | Hunter Lawrence | 🇦🇺 | 7 |
| 7 | Dylan Ferrandis | 🇫🇷 | 6 |
| 8 | Jean-Michel Bayle | 🇫🇷 | 6 |
| 9 | Greg Albertyn | 🇦🇺 | 5 |
| 10 | Grant Langston | 🇦🇺 | 3 |
| 11 | Sebastien Tortelli | 🇫🇷 | 3 |
| 12 | Gunner Lindstrom | 🇸🇪 | 2 |
| 13 | Jeffrey Herlings | 🇳🇱 | 1 |
| 14 | Jorge Prado | 🇪🇸 | 1 |
| 15 | Brett Metcalfe | 🇦🇺 | 1 |
| 16 | Mickael Pichon | 🇫🇷 | 1 |
