This section, as it develops, will include information on prominent riders in Scrambles, ISDT and Motocross including:
The following article is adapted from an archive of Histoire de la Moto, 1900-2000
Even before tackling this (too short) topic, I already knew the title, as it seemed to me that Belgian riders had dominated the discipline for several years now. On the other hand, when asked to name a Moto-Cross rider, for a Frenchman the names of Jean-Michel BAYLE, Sébastien TORTELLI or Frédéric BOLLEY will immediately come to mind. Apart from these, it is the names of Belgian riders that are most often mentioned.
I did check these impressions, though. You never know, they can be misleading!
And I did well, by the way: I was far from suspecting to what extent the domination of this small country of only 10 million inhabitants was overwhelming in this precise domain. Since 1957 in 500cc, 1962 in 250cc and 1975 in 125cc, 124 World Champion titles have been awarded. No less than 49 of them went to Belgian riders!
Next come the Swedes, who have 16 titles.
The other countries are far behind: France with 11 titles, Italy and Great Britain with 8 titles, the USA with 7. Then there are Finland (5), Holland, South Africa and Russia (4), Germany (3), Austria and New Zealand (2), and finally Japan (1).
By the way, statistically, Americans make us laugh when they claim to be the best, being unbeatable at home. It's also always the French who are French champions. Besides, it's not always Americans who are US champions!
As a corollary to this, the greatest drivers of this century are almost all Belgian. There are no fewer than 7 among the 10 drivers who have won more than three world titles, including:
Harry and Stefan Everts, who are hard to separate: The first won his first 250 title in 1975, then three successive titles in 125 between 1979 and 1981. The second, who is none other than his son, won his first 125 title 10 years later, in 1991, then 3 successive titles in 250 from 1995 to 1997. To top things off, he then moved up to 500 where he won 2 titles before the regulations changed and the "premier category" became "MX1", which he won 3 times. A category in which he remains undefeated to this day. For a total of 10 titles before putting the helmet back on a shelf. A record that is not about to be beaten. Stephan Everts is also the author of one of the biggest "perfs" of all time: During the 2003 season, Stefan Everts (like his compatriot Smets) lined up in two different categories and pocketed his new title in "MotoCrossGP", thus beating the score of Joël Roberts. Not content with this performance, during the last GP of the season, he lined up in the 3 categories (125, "MotoCrossGP" and 650) and won all three!!!
Joël Robert, who long held the record for the number of titles. If this record has been beaten, no one will take away his 6 titles, always in 250cc, including 5 consecutive, from 1968 to 1972. According to the specialists who knew him, he could have improved his score if he had deigned to work a little, because, extremely gifted, he had the particularity of never training. This said, of course, with all due respect. The downside of the coin, Joël lived all his races like big parties and did not think about the future. It is also true that at that time, the profession did not allow one to earn a fortune. He is now the manager of a gas station in Belgium. He is also, still, captain of the national team at the Motocross of Nations.
Eric Geboers won 5 world titles. He was the first to do so in the 3 existing Motocross capacities: 125, 250 and 500, which earned him the nickname "Mister 875". Unlike Joël Robert, he trained a lot. This allowed him to recover from numerous serious knee injuries. He retired in 1990, winning his last Grand Prix and his last title! Roger de Coster is a specialist in the 500cc category, in which he won his 5 titles. Between 1971 and 1976, only one eluded him at a time when this engine size was still the most popular and most competitive. He retired in 1990 after winning the last Grand Prix he participated in: He was then 36 years old! He has not left the world of Motocross, however, since he is manager of the Suzuki team in the USA The latest is Joël Smets, who has won 5 titles in total: 4 in 500cc from 1995 to 2000, then one in "MX3". He is not the least notable of the motocross riders. Not so much for his imposing stature or the insolent way in which he won most of his victories during the 2000 season, but rather for his diet: Fact or fiction, he claims that his diet is essentially composed of mussels and fries accompanied by beer: He is the worthy successor of Joël Robert... in any case, I don't know any Belgians who aren't bon vivants.
Without forgetting to mention, among the Belgian "crossmen": Leloup, Baeten, Mingels, Martens, Gaston Rahier, Georges Jobé, André Malherbe .
We cannot, of course, fail to mention the French World Champions, who, although not very numerous, were nonetheless valiant:
In 1986, Jacky Vimond became the first Frenchman to win the 250cc Motocross title. He won the title in a hard-fought battle, as he faced prestigious riders such as Heinz Kinigardner and Eric Geboers. He later became the coach of the French Motocross Team. Many members of this team, such as Sébastien Tortelli, Stéphane Roncada, and David Vuillemin, owe him a great deal. Some have become (or will become) his successors. Jean-Michel Bayle is considered one of the greatest Motocross riders of all time. After winning the 125cc World Championship in 1988 and the 250cc World Championship in 1989, he decided to cross the Atlantic in 1990 to challenge the Americans on their own turf. In 1991, he won three titles simultaneously: Supercross Champion, and Outdoor Champion in the 250cc and 500cc classes! Probably thinking he didn't have much left to prove in Motocross, he decided to turn to the Grand Prix speed races in 1993. While he wasn't as successful there as on dirt, he wasn't completely ridiculous either, winning two pole positions in the 500cc class. Let's not forget, either, that he began his "second career" as a privateer - Honda, strangely, did not follow him down this path - and that, after a stint as an official at Yamaha, he had to "wipe the plaster" with the Modenas KR-3. A period during which he at least gained the esteem of Kenny Roberts as a developer. Not everyone can say the same! In 1996, Sébastien Tortelli became the youngest 125cc world champion, at just 17 years old. He won a second title in 1998, this time in the 250cc class, after an epic season fought against Stephan Everts. Then, wanting to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor, he left for the USA, but to date he has only won one victory there. We can bet, however, that he will achieve his goal: Sébastien is a hard worker. What's more, he knows how to stay cool... unless a certain David Vuillemin is too much competition for him? Once Sébastien Tortelli left the world circuit, Frédéric Bolley immediately succeeded him in 250, in 1999, despite a season in which he had his share of troubles. He put his crown back on the line in 2000. He found himself facing his compatriot Michael Pichon, the others having fallen behind. But, while Bolley remained calm, some nerves snapped in the "Pichon clan", generating in the latter an excess of pressure that would cause him to lose a lot of resources. In any case, Frédéric Bolley is one of those riders who knows how to keep a human face: Didn't he, once he had won his title, participate in an endurance event, on the road, with the Garcia brothers, just for the sake of participating in a race "among friends"?
Pichon, in turn, would win two consecutive titles in 2001 and 2002, bringing his Suzuki to the title after the brand had been in decline for many years. In 2003, facing a dominant Everts, he was unable to defend his title until the end of the season due to injury. He was then dismissed by the "yellow" brand. Not very fair play... Let's hope that this series started by the French drivers will not stop there!
More info on MX: www.mxmax.com and http://www.mxbikes.com/
To visit sites (in English) concerning the (pre)history of off-roading: http://www.speedtracktales.co.uk and http://www.sandspeedwales.co.uk
(Document updated thanks to information provided by Gilles Derieuw.)
