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Gaston Rahier comments 43 years on, ring true tracks / competition .
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https://www.facebook.com/GPMongay/
Roger , and Gaston travelling the world promoting Suzuki And the sport ...
No one would do that now .....I need my down time. !
Gone but never forgotten ...star quality to the end
... George as well ...
The Shop
With Yamaha
Photos from the facebook from remenbers about GP Mongay (España)
https://www.facebook.com/GPMongay/
I was in the 1981 GP Everts victory battlel with Akira Watanabe (Rahier with Gilera)
And in the 1982 Geboers victory
It is with heavy heart that I forward the following announcement in Cycle
News. It hits me pretty hard. All of the people this is sent to know
Gaston from the days of MX in the 70's, Paris - Dakar and Baja in the 80's.
The rest of you are my Mountain Bike friends that know Gaston only through
my stories of him.
Gaston and I were competitors starting in the 70's when he would come over
for the USGP. We surprisingly got along great even though he was 12 years
my senior when I was an 18 year old first year factory rider. We hung out
in 77 at the 125 USGP and then a week later at the Canadian GP at Mosport.
Gaston cost me a GP win at Mosport when he slowed at the end of the second
moto to allow his Belgian countryman, Andre Massant to get his first GP
win. Even though Massant rode Yam and Gaston rode Suz, that was the way it
was then.
Gaston and I were brought together again in 1985 when he came over as 2 X
defending Paris - Dakar champion to race the Baja 1000 on BMW's. Gaston,
Eddie Hau and Kem Parks got 2nd OA and my team with Tom Kelly and Dave
Chase got 4th. I spent a lot of time with Gaston Pre Running for the 1000
and afterwards in CA at my home. He was an incredibly technical rider and
most of all an incredible competitor. Any man who can reach the pinnacle
of MX 3 times and the pinnacle of Off Road 2 times is a motorsports
competitor for the ages.
He was an incredibly gregarious man and could command a room of a 100
people despite his diminutive size. He was about 5'4". The conversations
and stories he told are seared into my brain. Some of these stories have
actually injected Gaston-isms into the lexicon of my family and MTB
friends. All of you have not heard all of the Gaston stories and
Gaston-isms. You may have some of your own.
Next time you see me, give me a couple of beers and we'll toast to Gaston.
Then ask me about the following Gaston-isms spoken with a Pepe-le-pugh
French accent........."OK, we go!", "God Dammit', you come so quick",
"I am going to beat you, because I am Gaston", "Why do sleep in the
bunkhouse? We are BMW", "Hey pretty lady, what are you doing tonight,
eh?"
God Speed Gaston.........
https://youtu.be/M7-PL5-dDHk
I do listen to a lot of podcasts and i Dont recall hearing about Him
After the race I waited at his tent in the pits and when he came I opened the tent and he drove in, waving me to come in as well. He thanked me very much - a true gentleman.
So to this day he is one of my all-time greatest Racers. Watching him racing the big BMW through the desert with close to 125 mph WFO still gives me goosebumps!!!
When Gaston Rahier was in Gilera, it was his last years of GP's, in Gilera with a Dutch engineer he manufactured prototypes of a 125 twin-cylinder to test.
Rahier was the rider who took care of it, but it did not convince him to dispute the GPs and he continued with a conventional 125.
In Gilera were also Rinaldi and the Spanish Fernando Muñoz, Muñoz who did not go to all the GP's, but to which he was a rider of the top ten, in a test in Spain was also Rahier and the twin-cylinder, Muñoz proved the twin-cylinder and it was faster than with the conventional one, Muñoz asked Gilera to compete in the GP´s with the twin-cylinder, but Rahier opposed it.
After the FIM pressed by the other brands, banned the twin-cylinder .
Pic: Rahier 9, and Muñoz 21 in GP Mongay, Watanabe 5, Geboers 3
Pic from Fernando Muñoz, multi Spanish champion and always very friendly, he died in an unfortunate car accident in which he did not drive in 1983, when he had his wife and two small children, in homage and help to the family a Supercross was organized in Spain, which attended riders like; Harry Everts, Malherbe, Jobe, Lacquaye, Lejeune, etc. No rider wanted to charge any money to go to compete, the money that belonged to them in the race, they left everything for the wife and childrens of Fernando.
This photo shows the widow of Fernando thanking the riders, in the photo is with Jobe, the coming and the gesture of not wanting the money for having come and participated.
He raced an RM100 to victory in every race one year.
Pit Row
They nicknamed of him was Gastounet, because he was short, here he looks in the photo.
It always surprised then how fast he was.
Not a question. You answered something I had wondered about.
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