Joël Robert

Robert was born in Châtelet, Belgium and began riding motorcycles at the age of 6 when his father, a former motocross and speedway racer, built him his first motorcycle, a 125cc Gillet.[2][9] His boyhood idols were Belgian motocross stars René Baeten and Auguste Mingels.[2] He entered his first race on April 10, 1960 riding a 250cc Zündapp.[9] His parents accompanied him to many of the races close to Belgium. Other times he would travel with fellow racers or, sometimes by train with his dismantled motorcycle packed into his hand luggage.[2]

After earning his expert class license in 1961, he switched to riding a Greeves and, won six races to finish second in the 250cc Belgian motocross national championship.[9] He rode the 250cc Greeves to five victories the following year to win the 1962 Belgian motocross national championship and, also began competing in some world championship motocross Grand Prix races, finishing the season ranked 14th in the world.[9][10] In 1963, he repeated as Belgian national champion riding the Greeves and, entered all the world championship Grand Prix rounds where, he ended the season ranked 25th in the world.[9][11]

In 1964, Robert was offered a CZ motorcycle by the Belgian CZ importer to compete in the 250cc motocross world championship as a privateer.[9] He won 9 of the 14 Grand Prix races that year to clinch the world championship ahead of second place Torsten Hallman.[12][13] At the age of 20, he became the youngest motocross world champion at the time.[2] He also won the Belgium national championship.[9] His impressive performance earned him a place on the CZ factory racing team for the 1965 season however, he experienced mechanical failures and ended the season ranked second to Victor Arbekov in the 250cc motocross world championship.[9][14]

The following three seasons were marked by the rivalry between Robert and Hallman. Robert finished second to Hallman in the 1966 and 1967 250cc world championships before, he defeated Hallman in 1968 by a two point margin to win his second world championship.[2][15][16] He won six Grand Prix races during the 1969 season to successfully defend his world championship over second place Sylvain Geboers.[17][18][19] Robert was also a member of the Belgian team that won the 1969 Motocross des Nations for 500cc motorcycles and the Trophée des Nations for 250cc motorcycles, marking the first Belgian victory in eighteen years at the event.[20]

Robert in action in 1972

For the 1970 season, Robert was wooed from CZ by the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki, who was seeking to make inroads into the European dominated sport.[2] He continued his winning streak with Suzuki by capturing the 1970 250cc world championship by a two point margin over his Suzuki teammate Sylvain Geboers.[21] He also helped the Belgian team repeat as winners of the 1970 Motocross des Nations and the Trophée des Nations.[20] Robert played an integral role in the introduction of the sport of motocross in the United States by participating in the Trans-AMA motocross series which featured top European racers competing against the best American racers. He dominated the 1970 Trans-AMA series by winning six consecutive races.[2] His participation in the year-end Trans-AMA series gave credibility to America's first motocross championship.[2]

Robert continued to rule the 250cc world championship in 1971 by winning eight out of twelve Grand Prix races that year.[22][23] In the 1972 250cc world championship season, he won six of the first eight Grand Prix races to build an insurmountable lead enroute to winning his fifth consecutive world championship.[24][25][26] He also participated in the Belgian teams triumph at the 1972 Motocross des Nations and Trophée des Nations.[20]

Robert suffered a knee injury during the 1972 season but, he refused to undergo surgery.[9] The knee injury affected his performance during the 1973 season and, he dropped to 18th in the world championship.[9] He continued to struggle with his injury for the next two seasons before Suzuki released him from his contract after the 1975 season.[9] He signed a contract with Puch but, only raced in a few Grand Prix races and ended the season ranked 19th in the 1976 250cc world championship.[9] His last professional race was an international race in France on a Puch 400MC.[9]

Robert won more than 250 World and international victories—including six 250cc motocross world championships and 50 Grand Prix wins during his career and, was a member of three victorious Belgian Motocross des Nations teams. His record of 50 motocross Grand Prix victories stood for nearly 30 years until it was broken in 2004 by fellow Belgian, Stefan Everts.[2] American Grand Prix motocross racer Jim Pomeroy commented on Robert's impressive physical strength in an interview, recalling how he watched him lift the rear end of a small car.[27]

Robert was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame along with Torsten Hallman in 2000. He also served as manager for Belgium's Motocross des Nations team leading them to victory in 1997 and 1998.[2][28]

Robert developed diabetes which resulted in having his foot amputated in 2018.[29] He also suffered from lung problems and had experienced a few strokes.[29] Robert contracted COVID-19 early in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium and was hospitalized but, then suffered a heart attack which left him comatose. He died on 13 January 2021.[29]

• Joel Robert Interview