Jacques Nicolet: “Ligier is the absolute”

Jacques, where does this passion for motorsport come from?

I've had it forever. I had a father who, when we still could, drove very fast on the small roads of Vaucluse. With my two brothers, the three of us slept in a large room. We had pot lids under the bed. We pretended to drive with it for part of the night. Later, I achieved very good times on the ice track at Isola 2000 (Alpes-Maritimes). Following this, I was an usher at the rally of Monte-Carlo for a team Peugeot of dealers in the South-East of France. It was in the years 1974 or 1975. I spent a dream week with the team jackets, the cartons of cigarettes in the car thanks to Marlboro. We had a 504 which had participated in the Rallye du Bandama (in Ivory Coast. Editor's note) with a teammate nearby who corrected the notes. It was really a great experience! Then I worked and finally started running at age 42, doing historic races in Endurance, those of V de V for example. Endurance has always appealed to me. This allows you to have good results without necessarily being the fastest, and it is more interesting to participate in long distance races when you are a gentleman driver with a separate professional activity. So I went all in on that. Then, one day, I switched to modern cars and started racing in Group CN on a Ligier. This was the occasion of my first meeting with Guy (Ligier in 2006. . Editor’s note). Finally, I moved to LM P2 as part of the races organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (CO. Editor’s note).

Your children are very involved in the Ligier organization chart. Did you pass on the passion for motorsport within your family?

My father did not participate in co