Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ An ...... ..... .... 0.. « 500cc MX World Champion Malherbe talks of winning during an injury plagued season, enjoying time off at home, and competition in Europe. By Tom Mueller Finding . Huy (pronounced H wee in French) proved no problem. The small town in the southeast portion of Belgium is home for the world's premier motocross rider, 1980 and '81 champion Andre Malherbe. The train ride from Brussels . . . got o?e in the mood for the.vlslt , carrymg me through the city of Narnur , home of the Belgian GP round at the famou s Citadel circuit. One small town after another link ed the path to Malherbes home . Narrow . high hou ses connecte d together. amidst . co b blesto ne st ree ts , flavored t he jour. ney through hilly terrain . at th e lim e spo rt ing a th in blanket of sno w. The Fren ch int eracti on of passe nge rs on the train co m pleted th e European im press ion . Certa inl y not t he kind of su rrou ndi ngs o ne would expect to find ncar an Ameri can 28 champ. but that of another environ rnent complete.ly.. . Malherbe didn t live far from the Huy train station . as I learned when he pulled up out front in a Honda Accord only minutes after I called him on the phone. I had halfheartedl y expected to be escorted to th e cha m pion 's home in the BMW I h ad seen him with in a Fren ch magazin e, but that wasn 't possibl e . "My BMW you sec was snatched, th e pickpocket . " sa id Malher be , searching for th e rig ht words in Eng lish to expla in th e fate of his car. W hen I di dn 't see m to u nder sta nd , he elaborated . "O ne nigh t I went to a hotel , and when I came out in the morning ca r was gone!" At that point I kn ew wh a t occ urred, j ust as we turned in at t he iro n ga te whic h gua rded th e drive to Andre's 200 -year · old Belgi an home . Malhe rbe can't put an ex act d a te on rh» formation of the whi te stone m anor , as it has been reb uilt in sec tio ns throug h th e yea rs . He has owned th e ho use a bi t over a vear. • We en tered t hrough the kitch en area , a bright su n filled room wher e Malherb es two larg e a nd well groomed dogs g reeted us. A sna p of his finge rs br ou ght th em to a standst ill , quashing all m y fears of th em in an instant. As we rel ax ed in Malherbes living room , which was highlighted by a pink ch air and couc h, the ob vious came to point first - the cast on Andre 's left wrist and a rm. " It's serious . but just for th ese bones ." sa id Malherbe as he pointed to his wrist . Ma lherbe was hindered throughout the '8 1 season with a broken wrist which never healed correc tly. Now. he has had bone grafted into his wrist from his left hip ncar the beltline, to help the bones proliferate . "My bones were half strong before the operation, so I should be ready (to ride) soon . I'm going to the doctor in Namur tomorrow . He told me my fingers must be fixed , riot moving, so the big cast. Tomorrow he should give me a smaller one on my wrist." If everything goes as Malherbes doctor plans , he should be back on the track by the middle of March . "March is OK , it 's not the time to go to the beach here in Belgium . you can ride but it 's still cold . Sometimes the conditions are still treacher ous early in the year. I don't want any more injuries . Last year was hard for me, and I still win so I was happy." Throughout our visit we ran into comical situations where I would try to reduce my English to caveman basics in hopes of easier understanding . The first question I threw his way was returned with laughter. "Oh man you talk too fast for me! " Andre replied. He does converse in English, German and his native language of French , and even with that edge still runs into some barriers. traveled with a German "I mechanic, and I just speak- a little bit of German, and he doesn't speak French or English so it's very hard as nobody was talking my language and 1 understand nothing , it's very bad . 1 was pretty happy to come back home. " While some publicized figures shy away from the camera 's lens , Malherbe was compliant with every wish , showing me his home and giving ample time for photos while we talked. Just as the business part of our engage · ment drew to a close . Andre's lovely wife Sabine joined us , quickly asking if I cared to join them for coffee and pastries. As their maid prepared our brew - wea ke r than usual on my account -we watched a bit of downhill skiing on television , a sport Malherbe enjoys and participates in . Though off season , Malherbes sche d ule still becomes cramped at times . Very punctual in nature , he reminded Sabine and I that we had to leav e for Brussels in 15 minutes in order for them to make an appoint ment. He was gracious enough to offer me a rid e b ack to Brussels with them . Our first stop once o ff a nd down th e road was at M alherbes father's Honda -Kawasaki sho p and garage . It's th e pla ce Andre got his sta rt years ago, and still th e place he stops for gas . Sa bi ne co m pleted gassing the ca r as Andre took ca re of t he win dshi eld washer reservoi r . We were ro lling again in minutes, and th e 45 minute ride to Bruss els ga ve Andre time to review the pa st season . "It 's d iffere n t . " sa id Malherb e concerni ng his seco nd 500cc tit le "beca use a fte r the first one you car make some thi ng better. T he firs t on was prett y nice because tha t was wh a I was expecti ng . With th e second one was m a ybe mor e happy. maybe mo re satisfied , beca use I hav e inj ury al year. It was a very hard yea r for me al wa ys problem. a nd I am still Worl d Ch ampion . I a m happy for th ese reasons ... I qu est ioned Andre ab out th e ba ttl between him and his Honda team mat e , 1979 Champion Gr aham oyce of England . The pair jockeyed th points lead ba ck and forth throughout th e seaso n with Malherbe getting th e edge . "Our relationship was good unti Graham came back very close to me Then it was just co m peti tion between us . Never teammates. we found out w arc free. Graham can do what he wants and I do what I want. Until h came close to me .. .not anymore very much re lat ions hip, just racing relationship. but nothing bad." The bikes weren't the difference between Malherbe and Noyce through the year. as the works Hondas they both rode were similar . 'The bikes ar exactly the same but for handlebars and foot support and seats , things lik that , just for our own driving style The engines are the same." The sport of racing motorcycles i acknowledged much more in Europe than the U.S . , especially in Belgium home of such names as Georges Jobe reigning 125cc World Champio Harry Everts , MX pioneer Joel Robert Gaston Rahier and others. Malherb has been accepted as a top quality athlete by his countryfolk. 'They reac well. The Belgian people know ve much about motocross racing. I thin 50 or 60 percent of the people who g to the races know something about th driver and motorcycle. " How about America , the Carlsbad California, round of the GP circuit "For me it 's OK to travel to the Stat for just one GP. But we don't hav much time between races, I mean w must leave one GP and go d irectly t the States . The hardest thing fo us ... (here Malherbe conversed wit Sabine in French to gather a thought I don't care to go to the GP : Th hardest thing is the weather, a bi difference between here and th States. We don't have time to b ready , to prepare for heat. We nee more than one week to read ourselves. The problem is it is ve expe nsive for the driver from Europ to go to the States, so only the facto driver can do this travel. Every yea 12, 15, 16 European drivers , no more It 's normal to have the America drivers there (in GP starting slots)." Once the race at Carlsbad is ove Malherbe has always had to rush bac to Europe to continue with the G 'circuit. "We don't have so much fr time . I go many times and never ha time to travel and see the States ." Malherbe , at 25 , is still regarded a a youngster in many ra cing circles i Europe . Though a World Champio at what would be considered "washed up " age by many in Am eric Andre sees a difference between hi level of co m peti tion and t hat America 's. "I think we ride longer i Europe . An American driver . he ca be made cha m p ion . he is very goo th en he is going very fast down . Mayb two yea rs later he is co m p lete ly dow a nd everyone forge ts th ose g uys. I Europe it is d iffer ent . I am two -ti Worl d Cha m p ion , I hope I ca n be 0 more , you know . Anyway, I try . much as I ca n . We sec (Roge

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