Twice fourth in the 125cc World Championship, Marc was the man to beat during the first rounds of the 1982 season; winner of the first three rounds in Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, he had a tough day in Italy but bounced back in Yugoslavia. The French GP was a nightmare for him, as he crashed and got injured, and was not able to fight for podium honours that season again, and once more missed the final podium in the standings. After four seasons with Yamaha, he signed with Gilera in 1983 to replace Michele Rinaldi who joined Suzuki; it was another tough season for him, who had to wait to the eighth round of the series to win his first race on the Italian bike, which was not really reliable at this period. The worst memory of the season was the final round in Czech Republic, when he broke the frame during the practice session and couldn’t race the GP as only one bike went trough the technical control. Moving to the 250cc class with Gilera in 1984 he will again be in contention for a podium result, but even if he won the last GP in Finland, he had to be satisfied with a fourth ranking for the third time in his career. It was his last good season, as Gilera didn’t renew his contract; signing with Maico, who tried to come back to the World Championship, he finished the season in the top ten of the series without any podium result. Changing brand and classes the following years, he was never again in a position to win a race and finally retired when he turned thirty. Very smart rider, able to beat anyone on a good day and considered as one of the best sand specialist, Marc just missed some more experience on hard pack to be more succesful during his career. Winner of six GP’s in both the 125cc and 250cc class, winner of the 1983 Cup of Nations with the Belgian team, he was back a few years ago in the paddock as a technician for the Gebben Van Venrooy team.
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Text and Photos: Pascal Haudiquert
1978:
30th in the 125 Motocross World Championship (Yamaha)
1980:
4th in the 125 Motocross World Championship (Yamaha). Winner of 1 GP
1981:
4th in the 125 Motocross World Championship (Yamaha). Winner of 1 GP
1982:
5th in the 125 Motocross World Championship (Yamaha). Winner of 3 GP’s
1983:
6th in the 125 Motocross World Championship (Gilera) Winner of the Cup of Nations with team Belgium
1984:
4th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (Gilera). Winner of 1 GP
1985:
9th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (Maico) 250 Belgian Champion
1986:
12th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (Yamaha)
1987:
10th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (Honda)
1988:
19th in the 250 Motocross World Championship (Kawasaki)
1989:
22th in the 500 Motocross World Championship (Kawasaki)
1990:
15th in the 500 Motocross World Championship (Kawasaki)
1991:
42nd in the 500 Motocross World Championship (Honda)
