GEORGES JOBE Text and photos : P. Haudiquert
but with his head held high he returned to the 500cc class. Back in the biggest class he won a handful of GP’s and significantly two more titles, in 1991 and 1992, to remain the #4 in the history of our sport with a total of five titles (equal to Roger De Coster, Eric Geboers and Joel Smets), behind Stefan Everts (10), Antonio Cairoli (8) and Joel Robert (6). When he finally retired in 1994, Georges stayed involved in the racing world and had always new ideas; he was the first one to bring International MX events to Qatar, where he twice organised a pre season race, and also built a GP track in Spa Francorchamps, home of several rounds of the World Championship. Team manager of the MX1 KTM Factory team in 2006, he had a big injury one year later, while riding with friends in the desert
near Dubai. Half paralysed, he entered a long fight and finally recovered several years later. Just before he fully recovered his mobility, something doctors thought he would never do, he was diagnosed with skin cancer, and later leukaemia forced him to spend far too long in and out of hospital. For Jobe, it was another challenge to be faced but this one was too much for him to take and he finally succumbed to the disease in December 2012, at just 51 years of age. He will always be remembered as treasured as one of the giants of the Motocross World Championship.
219