Vincent Franceschini: “The Channel is not a problem”

Hello Vincent, a Mini Countryman… SoBritish !

It's my wife's car, English indeed. I preferred to borrow it, it gives more local colors (Laughs). But in London where I live, nothing better than the “tube”!

Was it England that brought you to motorsport?

No, I crossed the Channel much later. My parents were couch sports and watched a lot of sports on television, including F1. The first pilot who made me dream was James Hunt. I was 12 years old. Later, in the 1980s, I began to devour the magazine International Grand Prix. That was the real trigger.

Vincent Franceschini © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

Was the desire to work in motorsport already there?

No, I didn't even think about it. When I was older, I went to business school in Paris, then an MBA in Dallas and came back to France to work in sailing, which was another great passion. I had an interview with Annette Roux, CEO of Beneteau (boat manufacturer. Ndlr). Je parlais trois langues et voulais faire du commercial, mais elle m’a proposé le service comptabilité. Donc, non. Ma mère étant ingénieure en optique, j’ai eu un entretien chez Essilor, et j’ai obtenu un job. Ma zone d’activité était l’Afrique du Sud où j’ai passé beaucoup de temps à développer le marché. Le business me passionnait. En janvier 1991, j’étais à Johannesburg quand la guerre du Golfe a débuté. Comme il fallait faire une escale à Nairobi pour rentrer en avion, la firme a interdit à ses employés de le prendre. Je me suis retrouvé bloqué à mon hôtel, où j’ai vu débarquer l’écurie Benetton. Je me suis dit que je ne pouv