| Eric Geboers | |
|---|---|
 Geboers receiving the FIM Motocross Legend Trophy in 2011 | |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Born | (1962-08-05)5 August 1962 Neerpelt, Belgium |
| Died | 6 May 2018(2018-05-06) (aged 55) Mol, Belgium |
| Motocross career | |
| Years active | 1980 - 1990 |
| Teams | Suzuki,Honda |
| Championships | 125cc- 1982, 1983 250cc- 1987 500cc- 1988, 1990 |
| Wins | 39 |
Eric Geboers (5 August 1962 – 6 May 2018) was aBelgian professionalmotocross racer andracing driver.[1] He competed in theMotocross World Championships from 1980 to 1990 riding for the Suzuki and Honda factory racing teams. A five-time world champion, Geboers is notable for being the first motocross competitor to win each of the three world championship classes (125cc, 250cc, and 500cc).[2][3] His 39 career Grand Prix victories ranks him fifth overall among motocross world championship competitors.[4]
In 1988, he was named the recipient of theBelgian National Sports Merit Award.[5] In 2011, Geboers was named anFIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.[6] Geboers died in a drowning accident in 2018.[7]
Geboers was born inNeerpelt, Belgium on August 5, 1962. His father was an amateur motocross racer who owned a petrol station that also sold automobiles, mopeds and scooters.[8] He was the youngest of five brothers withSylvain Geboers being the oldest, 16 years his senior.[3][8] Sylvain Geboers had ridden for theČZ andSuzuki factory racing teams and finished in the top three of the 250cc motocross world championships for five consecutive years between1968 and1972.[5][8]
All five brothers followed their father's lead by becoming motorcycle racers and a supporter's club was formed out of a desire to help further their racing careers.[8] For nearly 30 years, from the beginning of Sylvain's career in the early 1960s to the end of Eric's career in 1990, the supporter's club remained active by raising funds through subscription fees and by organizing tours to watch the brothers compete.[8]
Geboers began racing professional motocross in the1980 125cc Motocross World Championship for the Suzuki factory racing team with his brother Sylvain serving as Eric's team manager and mechanic.[5][8] He made an immediate impact by winning the 1980 125cc French Grand Prix in only the second Grand Prix of his career.[5][8][9] He went on to win two more Grand Prix races in Germany and Czechoslovakia to finish the season ranked third in the championship behindHarry Everts (Suzuki) andMichele Rinaldi (TGM).[9][10]
The 1981 125cc Motocross World Championship developed into a four-way battle between Geboers, Everts, Rinaldi and Marc Velkeneers (Yamaha). After the first ten rounds of the championship the four competitors were 12 points apart.[11] Everts won the last two Grand Prix races of the year to claim his third consecutive 125cc Motocross World Championship while Geboers won three Grand Prix races to improve to second place in the championship behind Everts.[12][13]
In 1982, Geboers overtook the early championship leader Velkeneers and went on to dominate the second half of the season by winning five of the last six Grand Prix races to claim his first 125cc Motocross World Championship for Suzuki.[14][15] He successfully defended his title for Suzuki in 1983 by winning 15 out of 24 heat races and six out of twelve Grand Prix races during the 125cc Motocross World Championship.[16][17][18] At the 1983 125cc Coupe des Nations event he finished second to Belgian teammate Velkeneers as the top individual points scorers to help the Belgian team win the event.[19]
Suzuki's decision to withdraw from the Motocross World Championships at the end of the 1983 season due to aworldwide economic recession led Geboers to sign a contract to become a member of the powerfulHondaHRC factory racing team that included the reigning world championAndré Malherbe as well asDavid Thorpe and André Vromans.[8][20] While with the Honda team, he was given the nicknameThe Kid by Honda team manager Steve Whitlock due to his small stature.[8]
The 1984 500cc Motocross World Championship saw an elevated level of competition with Geboers facing off against his Honda teammates Malherbe and Thorpe as well asHåkan Carlqvist (Yamaha) andGeorges Jobé (Kawasaki).[21] The 1984 500cc season is prominent for featuring all three of the previous year's world champions – Carlqvist (500cc), Jobé (250cc) and Geboers (125cc).[22] While the 1984 season would be dominated by Malherbe, Jobé and Thorpe, Geboers managed to win the 500cc Dutch Grand Prix and scored three second-place results before an injury forced him to miss the last three races of the year.[23] He ended the season ranked fifth in the championship.[24] Geboers improved to third place in the 1985 500cc motocross world championship behind his Honda teammates Malherbe and Thorpe.[25]
The 1986 500cc Motocross World Championship saw the resumption of the rivalry between the three Honda teammates as well as Kawasaki'sGeorges Jobé in a season-long battle that wasn't decided until the final round.[26] Entering the final round in Luxembourg, the four competitors were separated by only 20 points with Thorpe holding a three-point lead over Geboers in second place with Malherbe and Jobé following closely in third and fourth.[27] Thorpe was able to score a second-place finish behind Jobé to clinch his second consecutive World Championship just 5 points ahead of Malherbe with Geboers finishing the season in third place as Honda swept the top three spots in the 500cc World Championship for the second consecutive year.[27]
Whitlock convinced Geboers to compete in the 250cc World Championship in 1987, with the promise that he could return to the 500cc class if he won the 250cc title.[8] Geboers won five Grand Prix races to win the 1987 250cc world championship, earning a return to the premier 500cc division.[16] He would battle his Honda teammate Thorpe in a tight points race during the 1988 500cc championship until Thorpe broke his collarbone in the 500cc Dutch Grand Prix forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.[26] Geboers went on to win his first of two FIM 500cc World Championships, becoming the first competitor to win FIM world championships in all three engine displacement classes (125cc, 250cc and 500cc).[7][8] His victory at the 1988 500cc United States Grand Prix marked the first time a European competitor had won the event since Håkan Carlqvist in 1983.[28] His performance earned him the 1988Belgian National Sports Merit Award and he was named the 1988Belgian Sportsman of the year.[8]
The 1989 500cc Motocross World Championship once again featured Honda teammates Geboers and Thorpe as the top challengers for the title. The points lead went back and forth between the two teammates during the early rounds until Geboers surged to a 29-point lead at mid-season and seemed poised to win the championship.[26][29] However, Thorpe would re-motivate himself during the second half of the season and won the last four races of the year to overtake Geboers and claim the 500cc World Championship.[26][29]
Aged 28 years, Geboers retired at the top of his sport in 1990 by winning the premier 500cc world championship in his final season of competition.[16] After early championship points leader Billy Liles (Kawasaki) was sidelined by an injury, Geboers went on to dominate the second half of the season to clinch his fifth World Championship, joining other five-time World ChampionsJoël Robert (6 250cc titles) andRoger De Coster (5 500cc titles). He won the final race of his career at the 1990 500cc United States Grand Prix, defeating American ridersRicky Johnson, Jeff Matiasevich, and Johnny O'Mara.[5][16][30][31]
Geboers also won theLe Touquetbeach race three consecutive times between 1988 and 1990.[32]
Geboers won 74 individual heat races (34-125cc, 9-250cc, 31-500cc) and 39 Grand Prix victories (18-125cc, 5-250cc, 16-500cc) during his world championship racing career.[33] He won two 500cc World Championships (1988, 1990), one 250cc World Championship (1987) and two 125cc World Championships (1982, 1983). He also won three 500cc Belgian motocross national championaships (1986-1988).[33] He was a member of six BelgianMotocross des Nations teams (1981, 1983, 1985-1987, 1989) and twoTrophée des Nations teams (1981, 1983).[33]
After his retirement from motocross racing, Geboers began a career insports carendurance racing, competing in the2001 and2002FIA GT Championship in events such as the2001 FIA GT Jarama 500km and theSpa 24 Hours in2001 and2002.[3] Geboers managed the Suzuki motocross team along with his brother, fielding Belgian ridersClement Desalle andKevin Strijbos.[3]
Geboers died on May 6, 2018, in a drowning accident on a lake inMol, Belgium after jumping off a boat to save his pet dog.[2][3][7] Geboers immediately had difficulty and failed to surface.[7] Rescue crews recovered his body the next day.[7] The dog, a recent gift from his wife, reportedly survived.[7]
Points system from 1969 to 1983:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1984:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | |||||||||||
| 1980 | 125cc | Suzuki | NED - | NED - | AUT - | AUT - | BEL 4 | BEL 5 | FRA 4 | FRA 1 | YUG - | YUG - | GER 1 | GER 2 | ITA 2 | ITA - | CZE 2 | CZE 1 | FIN 5 | FIN 2 | USA - | USA - | ESP 4 | ESP - | 3rd | 129 | ||||||||
| 1981 | 125cc | Suzuki | ITA - | ITA 3 | NED 1 | NED - | AUT - | AUT 6 | GER 4 | GER 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 3 | YUG 5 | YUG 7 | POL - | POL 1 | CH 4 | CH 3 | USA - | USA 6 | FIN 1 | FIN 3 | CZE 3 | CZE 2 | ESP 2 | ESP 1 | 2nd | 197 | ||||||
| 1982 | 125cc | Suzuki | NED 4 | NED 1 | BEL 9 | BEL 8 | AUT 1 | AUT - | ITA 1 | ITA 1 | YUG - | YUG 3 | CH 2 | CH 2 | CZE 1 | CZE 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 1 | GER 2 | GER 1 | FIN 5 | FIN 1 | SWE 2 | SWE 1 | ESP 2 | ESP 1 | 1st | 266 | ||||||
| 1983 | 125cc | Suzuki | NED 1 | NED 1 | AUT 1 | AUT 1 | ITA 2 | ITA 2 | BEL 1 | BEL 1 | FRA 1 | FRA 1 | YUG 1 | YUG 1 | GER - | GER 1 | ESP - | ESP - | URS 1 | URS 3 | SWE 4 | SWE 1 | FIN 4 | FIN 4 | CZE 1 | CZE 1 | 1st | 283 | ||||||
| 1984 | 500cc | Honda | AUT 1 | AUT 4 | CH 5 | CH 5 | ESP 2 | ESP 3 | FRA 2 | FRA 3 | SWE - | SWE 2 | GER 5 | GER 1 | NED 1 | NED 1 | USA 6 | USA 3 | CAN - | CAN 4 | UK - | UK - | BEL - | BEL - | ITA - | ITA - | 5th | 245 | ||||||
| 1985 | 500cc | Honda | AUT 11 | AUT 6 | FRA 4 | FRA 3 | SWE 1 | SWE 1 | FIN 2 | FIN 1 | ITA 2 | ITA 4 | ESP 3 | ESP - | NED - | NED - | USA 7 | USA 5 | UK 11 | UK 7 | BEL - | BEL - | LUX - | LUX - | CH 4 | CH 3 | 3rd | 227 | ||||||
| 1986 | 500cc | Honda | CH - | CH - | AUT 10 | AUT 13 | NED 3 | NED 4 | SWE 5 | SWE 5 | FIN 1 | FIN 1 | GER 5 | GER 5 | CAN 2 | CAN 2 | USA 7 | USA 5 | FRA 2 | FRA 3 | UK 2 | UK 1 | BEL 2 | BEL 2 | LUX 5 | LUX 6 | 3rd | 299 | ||||||
| 1987 | 250cc | Honda | BEL 4 | BEL 2 | POR 1 | POR 1 | UK - | UK 1 | NED 2 | NED 1 | CZE 2 | CZE 1 | YUG 5 | YUG 6 | SM 4 | SM 1 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | USA 5 | USA 2 | BRA 4 | BRA 2 | ARG 4 | ARG 3 | SWE 1 | SWE 1 | 1st | 381 | ||||||
| 1988 | 500cc | Honda | AUT 14 | AUT 6 | CH 5 | CH 9 | SWE 4 | SWE 1 | FIN 1 | FIN 1 | GER 1 | GER 1 | ITA 1 | ITA 4 | USA 3 | USA 2 | UK 2 | UK 2 | NED 1 | NED 2 | SM 4 | SM 1 | BEL 5 | BEL 6 | LUX - | LUX - | 1st | 333 | ||||||
| 1989 | 500cc | Honda | NED 2 | NED 6 | FRA 1 | FRA 5 | AUT 3 | AUT 6 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | FIN 13 | FIN 2 | SWE 4 | SWE 6 | USA 2 | USA 3 | SM 15 | SM 3 | UK 9 | UK 4 | BEL 3 | BEL 2 | LUX 6 | LUX - | SWE - | SWE 10 | 3rd | 279 | ||||||
| 1990 | 500cc | Honda | NED 5 | NED 5 | CH 5 | CH 3 | AUT 2 | AUT 4 | FRA 1 | FRA 5 | FIN 1 | FIN 1 | ITA 1 | ITA 1 | UK 1 | UK 1 | GER 2 | GER 4 | SM 1 | SM 1 | BEL 5 | BEL 1 | LUX 2 | LUX 7 | USA 1 | USA 2 | 1st | 393 | ||||||
| Sources:[34][11][35][36][23][37][27][38][39][29][30] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||