Records are being challenged in three major racing series

Three men are in various stages of making big changes to the record books in World Superbike, MotoGP and MotoAmerica (and that’s not to mention that a woman, Ana Carrasco, leads a world championship for the first time ever in World Supersport 300; but it’s a little early to start putting her accomplishments in the same category). With a win this weekend, Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea can surpass the all-time win record held for years by fellow British racer Carl Fogarty. In MotoGP, Repsol Honda rider Marc Márquez is winning at a pace that gives him a shot at the all-time grand prix wins record. In MotoAmerica, Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s Toni Elias has surpassed 20 wins faster than anyone else in series history.

The reign of Rea

When it comes to winning world championship road races, nobody has been more successful the last three years than Jonathan Rea. The British rider began his career in the top WSBK class in 2009, riding for Honda. In six years with Honda, he won 15 races. But he shifted to a higher gear when he switched to Kawasaki in 2015.

Since the switch, Rea has won 44 races and three titles in three years, putting him even with Fogarty at 59 career wins. Rea has won exactly half of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship races held since he switched to Kawasaki, an unbeatable percentage.

Donington Park hasn't been one of Rea's best tracks, historically, but it's never wise to bet against him. Donington would be a fitting site for the record to be broken, and not just because the podium ceremony would feature "God Save the Queen" on home soil, but also because the first-ever WSBK race took place there in 1988.

Well done to my boy @jonathanrea on a fantastic double win at #imola @WorldSBK this weekend and equaling the record no” of wins by some guy from back in the day.?!!😇👍💪👊#1

— FOGGY MBE (@carlfogarty) May 13, 2018

Fogarty won four WSBK titles riding for Ducati in the 1990s, earning him the title of King Carl. But if Rea wins just one race this weekend, there will be a new British monarch of Superbike racing.

MM93: Winning fast, still young

For a long time, it was considered unlikely anyone would ever challenge Giacomo Agostini’s record of 122 grand prix motorcycle victories. Most of those wins came in the 500 cc class, but he also won many races in the 350 cc class. Ago’s domination was helped immensely by having an MV Agusta that was far superior to many of his rivals’ motorcycles some years, but he also won on a Yamaha. His record would be even greater, but he sat out several year-end races when he had already clinched the championship.

For a while, it was thought Valentino Rossi, currently with 115 wins across the four GP classes he has competed in, could challenge Agostini’s record, but two winless years at Ducati appear to have ended those hopes. The next obvious candidate is Marc Márquez.

Márquez currently has 64 wins in all classes, but he is only 25 and in his 11th year of grand prix racing. If he stays healthy, he has a chance at Agostini’s record. But it’s definitely no sure thing. In his first nine years of grand prix racing, Rossi had 68 wins, so he was on a faster pace than Márquez is now.

One more win will tie Márquez with Jorge Lorenzo for fifth on the all-time grand prix wins list. He is catching Lorenzo and Rossi in large part because those two switched brands and went to Ducati. I can only assume Márquez will stay with Honda for a long time, and that means he has a chance to catch grand prix racing’s most tantalizing record.

Toni Elias: Fast learner

Now in just his third season in MotoAmerica, Toni Elias has won 21 of the 44 races he has competed in (including five of six this season), putting him in sixth place in all-time wins in MotoAmerica and AMA Superbike. No rider won 20 races in a shorter time in the series than Elias.

Part of that is due to Elias’ unusual route to the series. A former MotoGP rider and Moto2 world champion, he was facing the prospect of an unwelcome early retirement when he was called in by Yoshimura Suzuki as a replacement rider for an injured Jake Lewis in 2016. Most of the greatest riders who came through the AMA Superbike ranks (Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies, etc.) had a learning year as a rookie and moved on to the world championship level after winning a U.S. title or three, while Elias came in as an experienced champion and began winning literally from his first race.

Despite his quick success, even on new-to-him tracks and a different kind of race bike, Elias, now 35, has little chance of matching Rea’s accomplishment of snatching the all-time wins record in his class. That number, set by another Yoshimura Suzuki rider, Mat Mladin, stands at 83 Superbike victories. And that may be the safest record of the three.