GENTLEMAN JEAN!

For his own admission, Jean-Francois Baldé was a naive rider: a man who said ‘no thanks’ to a good deal if he thought that it could hurt someone’s feelings or could be seen as a sign of disrespect.

Ethics were important in his life: that was due to the education he had received from his family. When the Frenchman became serious about racing, especially after his good performances in the endurance series launched him in the Grand Prix world, he didn’t think that business could influence results. But he was later proved wrong at his expense.

Born in 1950 in Mulhouse, France, Baldé spent his best years riding for the French Kawasaki importer. He achieved his most notable result in the standings