RIP JOEL ROBERT

FROM BELGIAN NEWS

Joël Robert passed away this Wednesday. The former Belgian motocross champion, in poor health for several years, succumbed to a Coronavirus infection, he was 77 years old.
Evoking Joël Robert is telling one of the greatest Belgian sportsmen of the twentieth century. He was of the caliber of Eddy Merckx, Jacky Ickx or Paul Van Imst. " The enfant terrible of motocross ", as it was nicknamed, was born on November 24, 1943 south of Charleroi, in Grandrieu, in the entity of Sivry-Rance. A family where we live and where we breathe "motorcycle". From the age of 7, he received his first machine. This is the time when everything is not yet prohibited.
Little Joël accumulates the hours of driving whatever the weather. The rain, the sun, the mud, the dust, Joël Robert is training and becomes a very complete pilot. He will start competing at 17. We are very far from today's "baby champions". Another era!
In 1964, he traveled the world of Grand-Prix alone with his small car and the motorcycle on the trailer. The sponsors, we don't know! That year he won his first world title, which he celebrated alone in Helsinki. At 21, he became the youngest world champion in motocross history. A record that will hold until 1980 when a 19-year-old boy, Georges Jobé , also won his first 250cc title.
From 1964 to 1972, Joël Robert won 6 world titles and won 50 Grand-Prix victories, all in 250cc. Two records that will never be equaled in the twentieth century! It was not until 2001 that Stefan Everts won a fiftieth victory, and 2002 for Stefan Everts, again, to be the first to secure a sixth title on his record. Stefan Everts , whom Joël Robert will also coach towards victory in the Motocross des Nations.
Joël Robert was first of all a talent, a gifted rider, endowed with a physique that developed instinctively on the bike. And fortunately moreover, because the young Joël is far from being an assiduous of the trainings. Joël likes to have fun, he likes to party… Even the day before a big competition. Another era, again! His talent, his knowledge of piloting, he will be keen to pass it on to the youngest. The courses he will lead in the United States sometimes welcomed up to 300 pilots in a day!
It was there, across the Atlantic, that he met actor Steve McQueen, a motocross enthusiast. Joël Robert will also settle one of the most famous stunts in American cinema, Steve McQueen's great jump on a motorcycle over barbed wire in the film "La Grande Evasion". Joël Robert becomes a star. We see it in a comic strip by Michel Vaillant. Crowns, laurels, popularity and even a book retracing his story "Who are you, Joël Robert?"
A great champion but also a visionary who wants to transmit his passion: he opens the doors of his SWM team to young pilots (Christian Gouverneur, Jean-Claude Lackaye) and takes part in their emergence, he creates the first indoor trial in Charleroi, he organizes the Blue Cruise across the country. His greatest success will be the legendary 12h de la Chinelle where he will mix on the same starting line more than 100 professional and amateur pilots in a test starting at night: at midnight! Through this ordeal, Joël will arouse many vocations.
The Coupe de l'Avenir, the Black Country Motocross for the benefit of unhappy childhood, it will make it a priority, a pride also with the recognition of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola who will travel on the small circuit of Jamioulx in south of Charleroi.
Joël Robert could have a bloody character. The carolo said what he thought. His friends today evoke of course his talent, his character but more than all his big heart, his great generosity. His end of life will be difficult. He will not be spared. His health concerns will insidiously replace the most trying motocross tracks to measure his strength of character. Diabetes, amputation, stroke, Covid, heart attack, the enfant terrible of motocross courageously crossed his last checkered flag at the age of 77.