Georges Jobé
George Jobé (1) on a Suzuki at the Vallès Circuit in 1981
Nationality	Belgian
Born	(1961-01-06)6 January 1961 Retinne, Belgium
Died	19 December 2012(2012-12-19) (aged 51) Brussels, Belgium
Motocross career
Years active	1979–1994
Teams	Montesa,Suzuki,Kawasaki,Honda
Championships	250cc- 1980, 1983 500cc- 1987, 1991, 1992
Wins	30

Georges Jobé (6 January 1961 – 19 December 2012) was aBelgian professionalmotocross racer.^[1] He competed in theFIMMotocross World Championships from 1979 to 1994.^[2] Jobé is notable for being a five-timeFIM Motocross World Champion.^[3] He was namedBelgian Sportsman of the year in 1987 and 1992.

Jobé was born inRetinne, Belgium on 6 January 1961. His older brother Claude Jobé competed in the motocross world championships for theMontesa factory racing team in the early 1970s.^[4][5] Jobé entered his first motocross race when he was 10-years-old.^[5] He won the 1977 250cc Belgian junior motocross championship riding a Montesa.

At the age of 18, Jobé joined the Suzuki racing team operated by former racerSylvain Geboers. In his first year of international competition, he finished seventh in the1979 250cc Motocross World Championship.^[6] Jobé won the1980 250cc Motocross World Championship through sheer consistency. Eight different competitors won Grand Prix events during the season, however none of them were able to score points consistently to challenge Jobé. At 19 years, 6 months and 14 days, Jobé dethronedJoël Robert for the honorary title of youngest Motocross World Champion in history at the time.^[3][7] Jobé was the top individual points scorer at the 1980Trophée des Nations as he led the Belgian team to victory in the team event.^[8] One week later at the 1980Motocross des Nations event, he finished second to his Belgian teammateAndré Malherbe, helping the Belgian team to the overall victory.^[9]

Jobé led the 1981 250cc Motocross World Championship by 53 points over his closest rival,Neil Hudson (Yamaha) with four rounds remaining and appeared to be heading towards a second consecutive World Championship when he was injured while competing in a Belgian National Championship race. He attempted to compete in the penultimate round in Russia but was injured again, allowing Hudson to overtake him and win the World Championship by only two points in the final standings.^[10][11]

Jobé once again led the 250cc Motocross World Championship in 1982 when he suffered an elbow fracture at mid-season during the 250cc French Grand Prix.Danny LaPorte (Yamaha) then won three consecutive Grand Prix races to take the championship points lead from Jobé. The championship would not be decided until the last race of the season in Sweden where LaPorte finished ahead of Jobé by 13 points.^[10][12] Jobé began the 1983 250cc Motocross World Championship by winning 5 of the first 6 heat races to build a commanding 60-point lead. He then posted consistent results to maintain his points lead and clinch the title over LaPorte with two rounds remaining.^[10][13]

Suzuki's decision to withdraw from the Motocross World Championships at the end of the 1983 season due to aworldwide economic recession led Jobé to sign a contract to race for theKawasaki factory racing team in the premier 500cc motocross world championship. The 1984 500cc Motocross World Championship featured one of the most talented field of competitors of the 1980s including all three of the previous year's world champions –Håkan Carlqvist (500cc), Jobé (250cc) andEric Geboers (125cc).^[14] Jobé was challenged by the powerfulHondaHRC team of Malherbe,David Thorpe and Geboers as well asYamaha's defending 500cc World Champion Carlqvist.^[10][14] Jobé fought Malherbe and Geboers in a tight points battle that would not be decided until the last race of the season in Italy where Malherbe succeeded in maintaining his points lead and clinched his third 500cc Motocross World Championship by just 11 points over Jobé.^[14][15]

Jobé accomplished one of the most audacious passes in motocross history during the 1984 500cc British Motocross Grand Prix, held atHawkstone Park,Shropshire,England.^[4][14][16] In 1984, the Hawkstone Park circuit included a large "double jump" (before they were customary on top motocross circuits). Few riders had the courage to attempt to clear the jump during practice, let alone during the actual race.^[14] However, during the second race of the Grand Prix, Jobé passed rival André Malherbe by clearing the double jump, physically jumping over his rival in the process.^[14] Photographer Nick Haskell captured the moment, and the image of Jobé flying over Malherbe with spectators cheering in the background, is considered by motorsports journalists to be one of the most iconic images of Grand Prix motocross racing.^[14][16][17]

Jobé represented Belgium at the 1984International Six Days Trial (ISDT) in Holland.^[18] The International Six Days Trial, now known as the International Six Days Enduro, is a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics which is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by theFIM dating back to 1913.^[19]

Jobé dropped to fourth in the 1985 500cc Motocross World Championship as the powerful factoryHonda team of Thorpe, Malherbe and Geboers swept the top three positions in the points standings.^[20] The 1986 500cc World Championship was a repeat of the previous season with Jobé facing off against the factory Honda trio in a season-long battle that wasn't decided until the final round. Jobé was the strongest competitor in the second half of the season, winning 6 of the last 8 heat races. Entering the last race in Luxembourg, the four competitors were separated by only 20 points with Thorpe in first place holding a three-point lead over Malherbe with Geboers and Jobé close behind. Jobé won the final race however, Thorpe was able to score a second-place finish to clinch his second consecutive World Championship.^[10] Thorpe won the title with 316 points, while Jobe had 296 points to finish the season in fourth-place.^[10]

Thorpe began the 1987 500cc Motocross World Championship season with three consecutive victories in the Spanish, French and Austrian Grands Prix to take the championship points lead, however he then suffered an injury while competing in the British National Championship. Thorpe's injury allowed Jobé to take the championship points lead with four Grand Prix victories and claim his first 500cc World Championship by more than 50 points over second placeKurt Nicoll (KTM).^[10][21] Jobé's 1987 500cc championship was notable as he won riding aprivateer Honda CR500.^[22] Most of his rivals were on the officialworks teams of Honda, Kawasaki orKTM.

Having won 250 and 500cc titles, Jobé competed in the 1988 125cc World Championship in an attempt to become the first competitor in history to win the "Triple Crown" (FIM 125, 250 and 500cc world titles).^[23] He was unsuccessful, as countryman Eric Geboers became the first to achieve the feat by winning the 500cc World championship in that same year (Geboers having previously won world 125 and 250cc titles).^[23]

Jobé suffered through two injury plagued seasons in 1989 and 1990 as Honda teammates Thorpe and Geboers dominated the 500cc World Championships. In the 1991 500cc Motocross World Championship, Jobé took the championship points lead at mid-season after early points leader Kurt Nicoll (KTM) withdrew due to injuries. Jobé then fought off a challenge fromJacky Martens (KTM) to win his second 500cc World Championship despite only winning one Grand Prix race all season.

The FIM introduced a new Grand Prix format for the 1991 500cc Motocross World Championship with three 25-minute heat races as opposed to the traditional format of two 45-minute heat races. Due to lack of financial support, Jobé had only planned to compete in a few Grand Prix races. However, after taking the early championship points lead he ended up competing in the entire series, battling Nicoll (KTM) and Billy Lilles (Honda) all the way to the final race of the season. Despite five Grand Prix victories by Nicoll compared to only two for Jobé, he was able to outscore Nicoll by a mere 2 points to secure his fifth World Championship.

He joinedJoël Robert,Roger De Coster and Eric Geboers as the only competitors at the time with five or more Motocross World Championships.^[10][24][25] Jobé rode a Honda in a selected few races during the 1992 and 1993 500cc World Championships. He competed in his final World Championship race at the 1993 500cc French Grand Prix at the age of 33.^[2]

Jobé won 57 individual heat races (28-250cc, 29-500cc) and 30 Grand Prix victories (17-250cc, 13 500cc) during his world championship racing career.^[2] He won two 250cc Motocross World Championships (1980, 1983) and three 500cc Motocross World Championships (1987, 1991, 1992). He was also a seven-time Belgian Motocross National Champion (1980-1984, 1988, 1989).^[2] Jobé was a member of eight BelgianMotocross des Nations teams (1980, 1982-1984, 1986-1987, 1989, 1992) and fourTrophée des Nations teams (1980, 1982-1984).^[2]

Jobé retired from competition after winning his fifth world championship in 1992.^[5] In2006 he was signed by KTM to help start their racing program, coaching riders such asMickaël Pichon,Sébastien Tortelli andJonathan Barragán. In 2007 Jobé was coaching young riders in Dubai when he crashed and became paralyzed.^[22] After a period of rehabilitation, he was able to walk again however, in April 2011 he was diagnosed withleukemia.^[22][26] Jobé died from his illness inBrussels on 19 December 2012 at the age of 51.^[3][23]

Points system from 1969 to 1983:

Points system from 1984:

• 1961 births
• 2012 deaths
• People from Fléron
• Belgian motocross riders
• Deaths from leukemia in Belgium
• Sportspeople from Liège Province

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• Use dmy dates from February 2022