When I think of "Great" riders still racing I'd have to go with Mladin or Rossi. They are at the top of their games and dominate everyone else in their respective series. Great riders of the past would be a Polen, Rainey, Schwantz, Doohan, Roberts (sr.), Lawson, Spencer etc... There are plenty of "above average" riders. This is where I'd place Ben, Yates, EBoz, Disalvo, Zemke, and most of the other factory riders. Duhamel would be in between the Greats and above average as would Nicky Hayden and a few others. The above average riders are good but have not had the consistency needed to become great. Dont get me wrong, Ben is a nice guy, but a Great rider? I must disagree.
edit: Sorry about the rant, I misread Awesome as great. So, compared to the average street guy or even most racers, I'd agree he is awesome. He kicked my arse when we raced together. So...... I'd give Ben a thumbs up for being a talented rider, he is just missing that little extra in consistency needed to make it into the next bracket.
