Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
RIP Eric
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Geboers
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Free shipping: VITALMX
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
RIP Eric
RIP
This is Truly sad news.
The Sport has lost one of its greatest riders and ambassadors.
Vale' Mr 875 .
Also, guess this tragic accident could happen to anyone at any given time, having to or wanting to attempt to save someone or even just falling in cold water...
not sure if I am allowed to post this link, remove if not but figured it may even go someway to possibly saving others or ourselves if we are faced with a similiar dilemma.... could happen to anyone.
At the bottom of link site are three videos- very educational and well presented, guess could help and even save lives- I am going to watch them and try to remember them.
Cold water immersion films/ info
Dave Thorp interview - Eric Geboers
ritish Motocross legend Dave Thorpe raced side by side with Eric Geboers. As HRC team-mates and rivals their battled became written in the folk law of our sport. Both ruthless to win and determined to win as many Grand Prix’s and world championships as they could.
Back in 1981, when Eric Geboers was finishing second in the World 125cc championship to Harry Everts, Thorpe was starting to make a name for himself in the 500cc class, finishing 15th in the championship, and scoring a handful of points.
At the top of that 1981 500cc championship were HRC riders Andrea Malherbe and Graham Noyce, the two leading HRC riders in a field of riders that would match any in the sport today.
While Geboers would go on to win the 1982 World 125cc championship, his first of five, Thorpe would finish sixth in the premier class, the almighty 500cc series.
Two years later in 1984 they locked horns for the first time, finishing third (Thorpe) and fifth (Geboers), and the love affair of competition was born between the two. A year later in 1985 and Thorpe picked up his first of three world 500cc championships and Geboers finished third, then a year later it was again Thorpe first and Geboers third, just 17 points separating the two, with Malherbe tucked in between second in the championship.
The 500cc class was at its peak, as more than a handful of present of future legends went at it. Geboers would move to the 250cc class and win a world title, and the two wouldn’t battle again until 1988, when finally, Geboers got that first 500cc world championship and claim the title Mr 875, the first rider in the sports history to win world motocross championships in all three classes (125cc, 250cc and 500cc). Only Stefan Everts has been able to match that feat since.
Thorpe and Geboers also battled in the 500cc class in 1989, with Thorpe again winning and Geboers third and finally in 1990 when Geboers would win and Thorpe fifth.
Dave Thorpe was kind enough to give us five minutes to reflect on a friendship and rivalry that was as strong as any in the sport history.
MXLarge: Dave, thanks for your time, I can imagine its been a tough day for everyone who knew Eric, and you probably knew him as well as anyone from your battles on the track?
Thorpe: I was told by Roger McGee from KTM UK. To be honest, it is hard to take in right now to be honest. We are the same age, Eric was born August 1962 and I was born September 1962. I can’t get my head around it.
MXlarge: It isn’t like with Georges (Jobe) where we knew he was sick, and it was still a big shock to everyone. With Eric it was sudden and that seems to make it even more shocking for everyone. What can you say about Eric as a person and as a racer?
Thorpe: As a person, he was a lovely kind guy, very close to his own family, and as a competitor, he was tough. He was tough and a physical guy. He worked hard and trained hard and had one of those never say die attitudes. It wasn’t over until it was over with Eric.
MXlarge: Obviously he was a small guy in that 500cc class, and you would think that was a disadvantage. But I guess he was one of those guys with that desire and heart and as you said he wasn’t going to give up easy.
Thorpe: We was small in stature, but he was physically a strong guy. He was always in really good shape and had a very high pain threshold and when he got injured he had the ability to fight through. I am just job smacked and I can’t get my head around it.
MXlarge: It isn’t something you want to hear, and Eric was just as you always have been polite and friendly to the media. He was great at telling stories. Do you have a special story about a race you guys might have shared?
Thorpe: I had so many fantastic races with Eric. One that stuck in mine and might not have stuck in his was at Namur, I think in 1988. We had a really good race together and I managed to pass him on the last lap. It wasn’t so much the pass, but it was the fight to get to that point. It was hard, but fare, just as it always was with Eric. You could always guarantee he was a very fare on the track.
MXlarge: He of course won those three world championships in different classes, 39 GP wins, retired as world champion and as you know that isn’t easy to do, and in an era that was stacked with legends. It would be easy to rate him right up there with Stefan (Everts) and Tony (Cairoli) wouldn’t it. Maybe not the same amount of titles, but in a really tough era.
Thorpe: There are different generations. The word legend is used loosely. For me, having battled with him and raced him, and watched Stefan and watched Tony, he belongs right up there with those guys. He is a special guy. In the time you had the three classes, that was a very challenging thing to do back then, going from 125, to 250 to 500, he did very well. The problem you had in those days, you had four of five guys in each class that were really good. It was never easy, he was never head to head with just one person.
MXlarge: Thanks very much for your time Dave, and I am sure I will see you at his funeral?
Thorpe: Yes, definitely.
RIP
A true motocross legend and hero to the end.
Pit Row
In the case of dear Eric, I would imagine it was just 'cold water immersion' and the initial 'gasp' that may have got him. He possibly dived in head first to save the little fella as quick as possible- which probably most people would do. Seems that is not the correct thing to do- you should get in slowly(within reason) and not immerse the head, cos when you start gasping, which you will, that is when you will breathe/ suck water into the lungs rather than air- the shock causes the 'gasp' and if the head is underwater then 2 lungfuls of water and maybe only a matter of seconds if it happens again... aaargh.
Anyway- guess that is the power of Nature and water- this happens at 10-15C and from what I read the temp of the lake was about 12C. So exact conditions for this to occur.
Keep thinking of Eric- what a brave, humble and selfless act for his dear dog.... maybe he is having a race with Georges(Jobe') right now! those were some good ones!
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tblazier/sets/72157628059518084/
Most of his racing happened before i was born but still heard allot about him and was in awe last year when a friend gave me the 1988 Namur GP tape where he became world champ. Legend!!
Think your Dad got it worse than me though, I could still move justabout to resurface... luckily I did not have a paddle to collect !!
Exactly the same- yea- this lake was in the Alps mountain range- fed by mountain snow would imagine.
RIP Eric.
My blood is so thin having lived in south Florida my whole life. Spent a great deal of my life in the water as a third generation guide and dad was also a dive instructor. I have won spearfish tournaments and surfed all my life. One christmas i went to Jacksonville to help a friend move. It was an exceptionally cold winter but the waves were perfect A-frames at the pier so we decided to surf. I had a really warm fullsuit but as i duckdove the first wave my body just went numb and all my oxygen was gone even though i took a big breathe before i went under. It freaked me out and i almost didn't make it in because my body was locked up. Luckily my friend only went knee deep and went back to shore. Cold water is scarry and this was in Florida. Glad i didnt jump off the pier.
Post a reply to: RIP Eric Geboers