Cycle News Staff | December 20, 2012
Five-time World Motocross Champion Georges Jobe died on December 19 after a bout with leukemia. He was 51 years old.
Jobe won the 250cc World Championship in 1980 and 1983 before going on to earn three 500cc World Championships (1987, 1991 and 1992), with the ’87 title coming in what was basically a privateer Honda effort. The Belgian tried unsuccessfully to earn the Triple Crown with titles in all three classes in 1988 when he took a shot at the 125cc championship. Jobe was also a member of the winning Belgian Motocross des Nations team in 1980.
Jobe retired from racing with 31 Grand Prix victories.
Jobe broke four vertebrae in his neck in Dubai in 2007 while coaching riders in Dubai. The accident left him paralyzed for nine months before he was able to regain mobility. In April of 2011, however, he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Jobe is survived by his wife, Sabrina, a daughter, Maite, and a son, Vic.
