Eric Geboers

Eric Henri Gerarda Geboers (5 August 1962 – 6 May 2018) was a Belgian professional motocross racer and racing driver. He competed in the Motocross 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). His 39 career Grand Prix victories ranks him fifth overall among motocross world championship competitors.

In 1988, Geboers was named the recipient of the Belgian National Sports Merit Award. In 2011, Geboers was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements. Geboers died in a drowning accident in 2018.

Biography Early racing career Geboers was born in Neerpelt, Belgium on August 5, 1962. His father was an amateur motocross racer who owned a petrol station that also sold automobiles, mopeds and scooters. He was the youngest of five brothers with Sylvain Geboers being the oldest, 16 years his senior. He went on to win two more Grand Prix races in Germany and Czechoslovakia to finish the season ranked third in the championship behind Harry Everts (Suzuki) and Michele Rinaldi (TGM).

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.

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. 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. 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.

Honda factory team Suzuki's decision to withdraw from the Motocross World Championships at the end of the 1983 season due to a worldwide economic recession led Geboers to sign a contract to become a member of the powerful Honda HRC factory racing team that included the reigning world champion André Malherbe as well as David Thorpe and André Vromans. While with the Honda team, he was given the nickname The Kid by Honda team manager Steve Whitlock due to his small stature. The 1984 500cc season is prominent for featuring all three of the previous year's world champions – Carlqvist (500cc), Jobé (250cc) and Geboers (125cc). 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. Geboers improved to third place in the 1985 500cc motocross world championship behind his Honda teammates Malherbe and Thorpe.

The 1986 500cc Motocross World Championship saw the resumption of the rivalry between the three Honda teammates as well as Kawasaki's Georges Jobé in a season-long battle that wasn't decided until the final round. 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. His performance earned him the 1988 Belgian National Sports Merit Award and he was named the 1988 Belgian Sportsman of the year.

Geboers also won the Le Touquet beach race three consecutive times between 1988 and 1990.

Career overview 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. 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).