|
(Conclusion)
What was
the transition like from motorcycles to four-wheelers?
Racing
in cars took me a while, after shifting from
motorcycles. At the beginning [when I shifted to
four-wheeled rally raid], it was a struggle. My years
with Nissan, I didn’t have a very good car and we were a
small team. It wasn’t possible to win Dakar with that
team then. It was very different from riding where, in
order to win, the rider was more important than the
bike. In four-wheeled rally raid it was the opposite.
You have to have the best car in order to have a good
chance of contending. You can’t win Dakar with a
mediocre car.
But it’s
better in a car that on a bike in Dakar because you also
have to do the navigating [aside from riding] on a bike.
When I started to drive a four-wheeler in a rally raid
[for Nissan], I felt that I could throw all my energy
into driving skills and not navigating. My codriver
would be the one to do all the navigation and
orientation. And it’s easier to overtake. Last Dakar
Rally with Mitsubishi, out of the 500-plus competitors
in the motorcycle division, me and [Jean Paul Cottret]
overtook 220 bikers on the first day alone.
In your
opinion, what were your most memorable wins?
My
favorite wins were my first with Yamaha and Mitsubishi.
At first, it was a dream to run in Dakar, not win in
Dakar. After two or three years, I felt it was possible
to win Dakar. By my fourth year with Yamaha [1991] I won
Dakar for the first time, and it was my best win. My
second most memorable win would be my first win with
Mitsubishi, because I could share the win and the joy
with Cottret and the rest of the team.
Do you
have any superstitions?
When I
first won Dakar on a motorcycle, I kept a blue bandanna
with me. For the rest of the duration of my Yamaha stay,
I always kept that bandanna wrapped around any area of
the bike I choose for luck. When I moved to
four-wheelers and won with Mitsubishi for the first time
[in 2004], I kept that blue bandanna in my race-suit
pocket. It’s been there every special and transport
stage since then.
What’s
your daily driver?
My
personal ride is a Mitsubishi Outlander CRDi, but I love
driving the Mitsubishi Pajero more. It has more space,
since it can fit my mountain bike in the rear section.
If you
were not involved in rally raid racing, what type of
motor racing would you like to join?
One of
my dreams was to participate in World Rally Championship
racing, but now it’s too late for that. I also wanted to
do USA dirt-bike races and Baja racing. I prefer loose
earth surfaces, not tarmac. I tried French touring car
racing once, but it just wasn’t for me. I prefer off-roading,
not doing the same lap twice or many more times.
What do
you think separates you from the rest of the
competition?
I was a
French champion of skateboarding when I was 13 years
old. Learning how to balance on a skateboard helped me
to balance on a motorcycle. I started skateboarding with
a friend of mine. We trained together and, eventually, I
became a French skateboarding champion because I thought
to myself that I could be better than my friend. And I
did become better.
The
mental aspect of competition—or what’s in one’s head—is
what separates the champions from the almost-haves and
never-wases (sic). |
