Antonin Bernard, an ambitious man at the foot of the Endurance mountain

It's no secret: theEndurance has been experiencing a true golden age since the beginning of the decade. Driven by the massive arrival of manufacturers in the premier class, in WEC or IMSA, the discipline attracts and arouses desires. Above all, it arouses vocations, reawakens passions. Examples of young talents who abandon the car to try their luck in Endurance, via GT or prototype, are not lacking. On the contrary, they are multiplying, revitalizing a pyramid left too long abandoned, too long lacking consideration. Antonin Bernard's ambition fits into this dynamic.

Like many, the Genevan by birth – and Ain by origin – made his debut in karting, very young, from the age of four. Like many, the potential was there. However, like many faced with the demanding, sometimes brutal world of motorsport, the Bernard family preferred to put this budding career on hold to let their son concentrate on his studies. An inspired choice: today, Antonin Bernard is in his fourth year of studies at EIGSI, an engineering school in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime). A sportsman at heart, the young student has no regrets about his choice, which allowed him, in particular, to indulge in his other passion: skiing, which he practices at a high level.

“When you go from karting to single-seaters, it’s a choice that requires a lot of sacrifices. All the parameters around it have to be positive because there’s only a small minority who will be able to make a living [from motorsport]. It was a time when I really wanted to sit down, think and be aware of what I was doing. So I told myself that studying was the best way to take a step back and also ensure a future, he tells us. For me, karting was also about sharing with family, and it's true that when you get into motorsport, your family has to make sacrifices. It wasn't something I was ready for, especially since I was doing other sports that I wasn't ready to sacrifice at the time. Now I'm a ski instructor, and that's something I probably wouldn't have been able to do if I had chosen to continue in motorsport."

A young person well surrounded

However, the call of the track – on asphalt this time – was too strong: at 22, Antonin Bernard decided to put his helmet back on and pursue his childhood dream: to become a racing driver. It must be said that motorsport runs in the family for the Bernards. His father, Sébastien Bernard, was the FIA's legal director for around twenty years and now works with the Losail circuit (Qatar), which hosts the Formula 1 and the WEC, as Chief Legal Officer. His mother, Nathalie, is also involved as a race steward in karting, GT and Formula 4, while his grandfather, Christian, a mechanic, took care of the mechanics for his grandson.

© Laurent Gayral Photography

With his studies well advanced and well underway, nothing was stopping him from returning to the circuits. He missed the adrenaline rush of speed so much that Antonin Bernard even went so far as to test himself in electric scooter championships, at an international level! An unusual activity to get back in the saddle and rediscover the taste for competition, before returning to a four-wheeled machine. It was through the Funyo Sprint Cup – a one-make competition for small prototypes certified by the FFSA – that he found a new gateway to motorsport.

“I really wanted to get back into racing, so we did some testing at the end of last year with HMC Racing and another team. I immediately liked the Funyo. We looked for budgets and then it happened, explains the young pilot. I've always been more into sports than studies, even though I love learning in general and I'm very curious. However, being able to live this passion, to seek to improve myself, to do the most, that comes from when I was little. I did it in many sports, in karting or skiing. And after several years of studies, it's really something that I missed. 

Play it like Alphand

A skier-pilot profile that would remind us of a certain Luc Alphand, downhill and Super-G ski champion before moving on to motorsport and competing in particular in the 24H of Le Mans and the Dakar. Obviously, Antonin Bernard is not there yet: nevertheless, his experience at the highest level in skiing serves him, both mentally and physically, to return to motor racing with excellent preparation. “Having experience in different sports can give you perspective and additional skills., he says. An athlete who only did karting to prepare for motor racing can be unsettled by this. on situations he's not used to, whereas in other sports you can work on that. Now, it's like everything in life: you have to be able to focus on one sport. Even if studies take a lot of time, I know that what I do with cars is something that requires a lot of effort and sacrifice, so I'm not going to do it halfway!

Efforts and sacrifices that, for now, are paying off. At the first round of the Funyo Sprint Cup, at the Val de Vienne circuit last April, Antonin Bernard finished second overall and first in the Espoirs classification (reserved for drivers under 23), with six podiums in total (four podiums in Espoirs and two overall, over four races). An ideal return to form for someone who wants to be ambitious for the rest of his career. Because the Funyo is only an initial step before aspiring to better things. Much better, in fact. At 22, the Ain native doesn't stop himself from dreaming of the upper echelons of motorsport and, why not, one day reaching the summit of the mountain called Endurance.

© Laurent Gayral Photography

"The Holy Grail would be the Hypercar. I will seize opportunities and obviously, if I have the opportunity to go to single-seaters, I will not miss it, but I tell myself that even in terms of feeling and what I like about driving, driving a prototype is very cool, answers the Frenchman when asked about his ultimate goal in motorsport, without closing the other doors that could open to him he. There are some great battles in GT too. I'm also interested in the rallyI haven't had the chance to try anything yet, but it's true that coming from a skiing background, rallying really interests me. I know that career opportunities are even more difficult in rallying, but anything is possible."

What next?

Before thinking about climbing that high, Antonin Bernard doesn't intend to rush things. Pragmatic like any good engineer, he knows the road is still long and the climb is perilous. For him, training in Funyo is a way to consolidate the basics of motorsport driving, even if it means staying another year to aim for the overall title. In endurance racing, for well-born drivers, value doesn't wait for years. And for what comes next, ideas are already on the table.

“It could be GT4 or the Ligier [JS Cup]. I'm very interested in endurance racing, there are some really nice cars, it's a wonderful competition with a good spirit. But pFor now, the most important thing is to focus on the current season, confides the neo-Charentais, now located in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne near its school in La Rochelle. From this year, we are thinking about doing other races in another category like in FFSAGT with a GT4, to see what it's like. It's still in the planning stages: at the end of last year, I did a test with Saintéloc in GT4 which went well. The idea, since I'm finishing my diploma in a little over a year, is to be able to do one championship in the winter and another championship in the summer. Remember the name Antonin Bernard; you might see him again in the years to come. His rise to fame is only just beginning.

ALSO READ > Kevin Magnussen, Valentino Rossi's teammate at the 24 Hours of Spa