Carpooling with Nathalie Maillet: “You have to believe in your possibilities”

Nathalie, why did you choose this Audi e-tron and the old circuit?

It’s a nod to two eras. This Audi symbolizes new technologies which are not incompatible with power and driving pleasure, but with zero CO2 emissions. I'm taking you on the old circuit, precisely on the banking side of Stavelot. This is an allusion to the 14km track which was incredibly daunting. And then, as you know, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Which region of France are you from?

I was born in Verdun on May 11, 1970. I spent my entire childhood in a village in the Meuse: Neuvilly-en-Argonne, then in Briey in Meurthe-et-Moselle.

Where does this passion for motorsport come from?

From my family who dragged their gaiters on all the circuits in France in the 1970s. My father, my uncle, then my cousin competed in many promotional cups on the circuit. My people say that at three years old, I cried my eyes out because I had to stay with my grandmother. I had measles and could not accompany them to Magny-Cours. In one photo I am sitting in the Formula Renault from my uncle to Le Castellet in 1976. Subsequently, my father drove a Renault 5 GT Turbo. I have memories in Lédenon, Nogaro, Pau, Croix-en-Ternois… For more than twenty years, my uncle played in the Europa Cup. Alpine A310, Renault 21 Turbo, Clio Cup. Often as a curtain raiser F1. I must have been 11 years old and I remember that in Monza I attended a Madonna concert.

Did any pilots make an impression on you?

I remember Superproduction races at Magny-Cours with Claude Ballot-Léna, with Jean-Pierre Beltoise in Peugeot 505. At the time