James Ruffier: "I was only focused on performance and not on my well-being"

Hey James! A Willys Jeep doesn't really match your reckless temperament and your old, high-powered racing cars...

I'm a simple guy, even though this Jeep has become a beautiful collector's car. In my eyes, it's the perfect expression of what driving on the open road should be like, at the opposite extreme of the circuit. So I'd better warn you: we're going for a ride at 40 km/h in a Jeep Willys!... We're comfortable here, aren't we?

Absolutely! Let's go back in time. How did your passion for motorsport develop? It usually starts with your father, right?

Absolutely not! Everyone thinks it was my father who started it all. But in reality, he was the one who followed me, even though I had already been riding for a few years. My father, on the other hand, introduced me to a lot of sports. I didn't really like anything. In 1988, I was 14 years old and he took me to the karting from the Briqueterie aux Étards (Seine-et-Marne), a stone's throw from home. I was a very shy child, but when I put on a helmet for the first time, I was transformed! I was totally thrilled. My father then thought that I might have found something to blossom. We bought a kart, at the time it cost the equivalent of €750. We came back every weekend to do laps at Étards. Then we started competing. I won my first race on my first outing!

With your dad?

Yes, even though we knew nothing about mechanics or the world of karting. It was also at that time that my father started his transport company. He was very tired; so, I was the one driving the car and his caravan even though I had