Gaston Rahier (1 February 1947 – 8 February 2005) was a Belgian professional

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

racer. He competed in the

Motocross World Championship FIM Motocross World Championship is the premier championship of motocross racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), divided into two distinct classes: MXGP and MX2. Race duration is 30 minutes plus two laps per ...

s from 1967 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Suzuki factory racing team where he won three consecutive FIM 125cc Motocross World Championships. In 1977, Rahier was named the recipient of the

Belgian National Sports Merit Award The Belgian National Sports Merit Award is an annual award handed out to a Belgian sportsperson or -team for exceptional merit. Players can only win the award once during their career, making this trophy one of the most prestigious in Belgian sports ...

. After his motocross career, he became a successful Rally Raid competitor.

Career

Born

Herve Herve (; li, Herf; wa, Heve) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Herve had a total population of 17,598. The total area is which gives a population density of . It is fame ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

, Rahier was three-time FIM

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the 125cc division, claiming the title in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. He later went on to race in and win the famous

Paris-Dakar The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

rally for BMW motorcycles, in 1984 and 1985. At the end of that last year he was named, alongside long-distance runner

Vincent Rousseau Vincent Rousseau (born 29 July 1962 in Mons, Hainaut) is a former long-distance runner from Belgium, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984. In 1993, he had his biggest success by winning the I ...

, as the Belgian Sportsman of the Year. Rahier is a Paris-Dakar legend, once referred to as "The little man with the giant reputation." Rahier died in Paris after a long battle with cancer.

References

1947 births 2005 deaths People from Herve Belgian motocross riders Off-road motorcycle racers Dakar Rally motorcyclists Dakar Rally winning drivers Belgian racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Sportspeople from Liège Province {{Belgium-sport-bio-stub Graff Racing drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers