André Malherbe was a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 motocross

Motocross

Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...

 racer. He won three F.I.M.

Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme

The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the governing body of motorcycle racing. It represents 103 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions....

 500cc motocross World Championships.

Born in Huy

Huy

Huy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population...

, the son of a motorcycle dealer, Malherbe began racing at an early age and earned his racing licence in 1973. He rode a Zündapp

Zündapp

Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators...

 to win the 1973 FIM 125cc European motocross championship, and repeated as champion in 1974. Malherbe finished the 1977 season third in the 250cc motocross world championship. By 1979 he had moved up to the 500cc class and again finished third in the world. In 1980, he captured his first 500cc world championship as a member of the Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

 factory racing team. Malherbe successfully defended his title in 1981 and in 1984 he won his third 500cc world championship for Honda. Malherbe's 41 Grand Prix race victories placed him fourth on the all-time winners list.

After his motocross career ended, he began to compete in off road

Off Road

Off Road may refer to:*Super Off Road, 1989 arcade game released by Leland Corporation*Off Road Challenge, 1998 console game released by Nintendo*Ford Racing: Off Road, 2008 video game published by Empire Interactive...

 rallys. While competing in the 1988 Paris to Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...

 he crashed and suffered serious injuries that left him paralyzed

Paralysis

Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...

.