Had the pleasure of meeting George jobe at hawkstone Park with my son. He was a real gentleman, had plenty of time for my little boy giving him a signed poster. R. I. P
Malherbe was such a great rider, and person. I hate so badly that he ended up paralyzed from simply just doing what he loved. These men are much more skilled and brave than most people know; you're life could be changed in an instant riding these bikes at the speed they race with. God bless all of these giants of the past. The best years of my life were being 12 years old and reading about these bigger than life riders in my well worn copies of Motocross Action and Dirt Bike Magazine.
Wow..I got a little bit emotional watching this . I remember sitting in front of the TV watching this when I was 10 years old... mesmerised!! Man those 500s fly out of the corners!
My god it’s a BEAUTIFUL motocross track! 😍 Just EPIC! It’s kind of sad to see the circus that motocross has become today from this…. It barely compares.
What a rider Georges Jobe was! Battling virtually single handily in 1984, 1985, 1986 against the might of HRC Hondas of Thorpe, Malherbe and Geboers. Georges might of been champion in 86 but was let down by a series of mechanical failures on the Kawasaki having won as many Moto's as anyone in that season. No wonder he jumped on that private Honda to win the championship in 1987. Before that had legendary battles in 250cc class in 1982/1983 with American Danny Laporte. Who will ever forget jump over Andre Malherbe at Hawkstone infamous double jump in 1984. Sadly no longer with us but will always remain a true icon of World Championship Motocross.
God I miss those days. It’s watching Thorpy that sent me into motocross. That sound, the feeling, fitness, the smell of octane plus. The best days of my life.
After many years watching him race as a young man , I was lucky enough to have a day out riding with Dave with my son in early 2020 . A top bloke ,with effortless speed . he`s still got it !
This is my childhood!! The old 500cc 4-speed BEAST bikes!! I rode a couple but i never owned one, couldn't afford one but more important, i couldn't really ride one! Just way too much power, crazy. i kept riding and finally hung up my riding boots two years ago at age 50 with a compound tib/fib fracture counting as my only really bad injury. My last bike was a 2008 CRF250R which was the most amazing off road motorcycle I've ever ridden. I love motocross, I love the Euro GP racing even better as I never could really do seat bumping to get over those massive gap doubles, and I didn't want to die. I was always mid pack...but not one rider had a bigger smile or had more fun then me! Cheers mates!
When Dave Thorpe fell in the first Moto I was stood right there. I picked up his goggles and kept them for many years as a treasured possession. Lost them in a house move some decades later. Happy times at Hawkstone Park and Farleigh Castle. Saw Georges jump the Hawkstone double. R.I.P. Eric and Georges.
3 years before that I thought I was fast, a future motocross legend. Jammin Jimmy Weinert showed up at out local track 1 weekend and stuffed me in every turn, passing me like I seized up. These guys are on a whole nother level, TRUST ME !!!!
I was there, I was 13, Tony Francis turned to my Dad and asked him how many people he thought were there. My Dad said, around 20,000. Then on 3:50, Francis said there are 20,000 people and I've counted every one of them. 🤣The 80s was the greatest era of motocros for me, early 90s when I raced were still pretty good too.
@@ianmangham4570 I was at the veterens MX des nations this weekend Ian, my first return to Farleigh Castle since the golden era of GPs in the 80s, magical!
I was there I would have been 30 at the time, five of us went all keen motocrossers you think you're fast till you see these boys. Sadly many are not with us anymore 😢
@@peterbalac1915 we could all go fast on the straights, these boys kept good speed through the corners, with superb balance and athleticism, especially in the sand.
Motocross like it was meant to be, natural track, 500cc two strokes, 40 minutes plus two laps. I'm an old racer from the 70's and this was better racing. Todays riders would be much more fun to watch if this was still how MX was being run...
I agree with you wholeheartedly I'm a child from the 70s .. And today's Motocross is basically Sprint were these men ran a marathon Stay safe keep the rubber side down👍🙏🇺🇸
There were like 2 small jumps on the whole track. This would be boring as hell to watch today. The main thing that would make modern MX better today would be more 2 strokes.
Great upload 👌nice afternoon spent watching the 3 Kings George's jobe, Eric geboers, Dave Thorpe 👏👏RIP George's and Eric ,thanks for the great memories lads❤
1986 was an awesome year for Honda and MX, both in Europe and the USA, culminating with an epic USA victory of the MX des Nations with O'Show, Johnson and Bailey winning all 3 moths. Sadly, David Bailey's career was cut short right after this year and more recently, Jobe, and Geboers passing away too soon.
Man...want a lesson in motocross fundamentals? Watch races from the 80's. These guys all have perfect technique. Body position, throttle control, line choice, elbows up, eyes up, steer with the rear. Hell yeah.
We all thought we were good cos we won on a few local tracks, until we went to Hawstone on 500 GP Day! and watched Thorpey, Malherbe, Jobe and the kid doing 2 x 45 mins. Any one remember Jobes double jump the previous year!
@@volksquadman Great times my freind, I remember someone left an alsatian dog in the back of a car it was a hot day we were going to put the window in and get him out luckily police man turned up with the owner and got the dog out. Glad to hear your still riding unfortunately I'm a few years older and carrying a lot of injuries, just a road bike now I sold my Honda xr650r about five years ago mainly because I couldn't ride it as good as I could have when I was younger 🤙
I know how you feel- I only ache when i get off the bike now. I rode with a 28 yr old lad today and very much hope every ride wont be my last. In 2021 i broke the front wheel on my 89 CR500 of a Jump in South Wales- its in one of the vids somewhere. Almost took it as a Signal to Stop. I had a lovely XR600 nicked- Almost cried.@@peterbalac1915
Most people don't understand just how much power these 500's have. It's like riding a rodeo horse for an hour or more. Riding a bucking bronco is only a few seconds and those guys get beaten up bad.
Met Dave at Elsworth cambs on a practice day, he had just moved to Kawasaki at the time it was mid week A young Rob herring was there as well. Dave was there with Dickie dye in a white P100 pickup we were in the park ferme Dave came walking over and commented on my bike, a cagiva 500 said he raced against them in eastern Europe and they were really quick. They say never meet your heroes couldn't be further from the truth smashing guy very unassuming posed for pictures as well !!!
It's a far statement that if you can finish the day without falling off at this track..you are a good rider . If you can get a overall first at this track you are bloody good rider
When was it when the second place bloke jumped over into first? I was a young motocrosser back then n#56. The flying ant I remember in juniors. Loads of good memory’s and bruises. My dad and uncle competed in British championships,keith and Allan Worthington.
Hawkstone was a hard track to ride but I liked it and the shock oil was always very hot and I snapped the fork damping rod on my Kawasaki just shows how rough it would get.
I was wondering how long the track was and I guessed a real long one at around 3kms. Just looked it up and it’s says it’s 2.9kms. It may have been longer in 1986?
I just loved seeing this, I remember the bomb hole when the Cagiva 125 dropped in and came up the other side with a collapsed front wheel, I had a great action shot of that in the air which my d-head brother lost the negatives, why oh why didn’t yam and Suzy build water box 500s
