While it might be Antonio Cairoli who now leads the Italian motocross scene, with his nine world motocross championships and 90 GP wins, 20 years ago it was very much another rider who strode into the record books as the best Italian rider ever.

Alessio Chiodi born on 17 March in 1973 in the small village of Salo, in the north of Italy is a three-time Grand Prix motocross world champion, in an era that he dominated the 125cc (MX2) championship.

Chicco as he was nicknamed was the 1997 World Champion in the 125cc class on a Yamaha. The following year he switched to the Husqvarna factory racing team and repeated as 125cc world champion and then again in 1999, Chiodi won his third consecutive 125cc world championship, also on a Husqvarna. 

Chiodi was also a member of the winning Italian teams in the 1999 and 2002 Motocross des Nations. Chiodi also won 26 GPs in his career, placing him 17th in the all time GP winners list and ahead of names like Harry Everts, Jeff Smith, Dave Thorpe and current MXGP champion Tim Gajser.

I still remember a very young Grant Langston sitting and watching Chiodi as the Italian prepared his gate for the 1999 Brazilian GP. Chicco had won the Grand Prix at the Indaiatuba circuit and was in the middle of his peak form. I asked Langston why he was so focused on the Italian.

“I was like a sponge back then, and everything Chiodi did was worth watching, because he was the best and had already won two 125cc championships. I wanted to take anything I could from his preparation.”

Chiodi, who was a free spirit, with his dreadlocks and passionate attitude to racing was a breath of fresh air for the sport, a sport he dominated in the 125cc class for many years.

I remember once doing an interview with the Italian legend, and him mentioning how he wasn’t even interesting in the glory of being known, but preferred to sit at his home and just relax, a humble man, with a determination that made him one of the true legends of the sport.

In 1993 Chiodi finished top ten in the 125cc championship with 238 points, just behind him was now KTM boss Pit Beirer, and the champion that year was Dutchman Pedro Tragter.

A year later Chiodi had risen to second in the world behind Bobby Moore, the difference of just 48 points separating the two. It was clear that the Italian was a future champion.

Unfortunately, though 1995 would not be the year as he had a huge battle with fellow Italian Alessandro Puzar. Puzar making something of a return to the top having won the 250cc championship back in 1990, the older Italian would beat Chiodi by just three points, taking the championship victory in the very last round in Germany with 1-2 results compared to 2-3 by Chiodi. 

Behind them that year was a young Frenchman by the name of Sebastien Tortelli. A year later, at just 16 years old Tortelli would win the 125cc title in 1996, beating home British rider Paul Malin.

Chiodi however had made the move to the 250cc class, a move that didn’t do his improvement any good, as he finished down in 16th place in the points race.

A year later and with Tortelli moving up to the 250cc class, Chiodi moved back down to the 125cc classification, and this is when his legend began. Again it was the battle between the two Italian riders, Chiodi versus Puzar, but this time Chicco as he was known to the fans would win by a margin of 40 points, again it went down to the final GP of the season in Holland.

With his first championship in the bank Chiodi moved to the Factory Husqvarna team, and this was an era that nobody could beat the little Italian. Victory in 1998 and 1999, plus victory in the MXoN with Italy in 1999 saw him arrive as the best little bike rider in the world. He won the 125cc overall at the Nations with 2-1 scores, and easily beat American champion Ricky Carmichael.

His reign at the top didn’t last much longer though, a wrist injury at the Bologna Supercross in Italy saw him drop out of contention for the world championships. He missed most of 2000, finished sixth in the 250cc championship in 2001, 10th in 2002. He dropped back down to the MX2 class in 2003 and finished 8th, even finished a stunning fourth in 2004, but was more than 200 points down in New Zealand’s Ben Townley by season end.

Chiodi did make one last charge at the FIM Motocross World Championship with his last hurray in 2005 when he finished third behind Andrew McFarlane and Alessio Chiodi in the MX2 championship. A brilliant performance for a rider who had already captured three world titles in the previous era, and several top three moto finishes showed there was still some fight in the old dog.

2006 and a 12th place in the MX2 series was enough for the legendary Chiodi to call it a day. The new era of Italian riders had arrived, and led by Antonio Cairoli, Chiodi had nothing more to prove, and while he did race the odd international event, or Italian championship event, his place amongst the world elite was over.