Simon Abadie (Tech 1) and the effects of Covid-19: “We will see if our sport is united”

I surprise you right in the middle of the “children’s occupation” activity, it seems! 

Yes, it’s a full-time job! For the past two weeks, I have been doing homework in the morning. I'm taking advantage of it, it's the first time I've spent so much time with my children, usually I don't have time to see them grow up. It's only during the winter holidays that I'm here so much. You have to be patient. At least it refocuses things: car racing is important, but it's incidental in the current context. Today, the most important thing is health and family.

How is the Tech 1 Racing activity being put on hold?
We closed two weeks ago, as soon as we got back from testing. pre-season at Le Castellet for the GT World Challenge. At the same time, the proto (theOreca 07 from Panis Racing. Editor’s note) was in Barcelona. We were supposed to ride on Saturday, and on Friday evening they told us that they were closing the circuit. So we went back to the workshop, cleaned the cars, made a list of equipment and I sent the team members home, telling them not to move.

After the new fortnight of confinement, we will bring them back. But car racing is not about to resume. Already, when the government tells everyone “ok, you can go out”, we will see that car racing will be far from being a priority. 

How many people do you have under your responsibility?
At Tech 1 there are around ten of us, but personally I also have quite a few activities in the food industry, bars, a grocery store and a beer factory, which means I have around a hundred partially unemployed employees. I only have two working: my wife and another brewer. We are at a standstill, doing administrative paperwork.

How do you see things when the lockdown is lifted?
Already, I don't think that racing activities will resume before July. We will then have five months ahead of us. There are six races in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), ten of GT World Challenge, plus the 24 Hours of Le Mans : I don't know how we're going to be able to fit them all in. The organizers will have to make decisions to either do “double rounds” or cancel some of them.

This will not go without causing problems in terms of budgets because everything has been signed, with the various sponsors and partners. The ELMS will communicate soon, SRO probably next week. From what I understand, everyone is having a lot of trouble finding tours because all the series are rushing for the few dates available between now and the end of the year. 

What would you see as acceptable solutions?
In ELMS or GT World Challenge, I would double the duration of the endurance races and make them count double so that the drivers drive the equivalent of a “normal” season. For the SRO sprint, I would run a race on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, removing testing to do races. In any case, the decisions will not be easy to make.

It's complicated for the organizers and it will be very complicated for us, competitors, to manage time because we will not be able to make our employees work 10 to 15 weekends in a row, including car servicing per week and travel. When we resume activity at the end of April, we will have a month to a month and a half to prepare for this mini season. All the teams will be in the same situation as us. 

You are relatively well organized, this may not be the case for everyone...
We must not hide it, economically, it will wreak havoc. There are a lot of people who will put down their weapons. Car racing is a secondary activity, it's important without really being so. The important thing today is that promoters manage to find an organization to prevent competitors from finding themselves left behind.

We will have to be responsive and mobile. You should not expect perfection from the organizers; we will have to be lenient, and this is where we will see if our sport is united. This crisis risks serving as an excuse for many to stop their activity. Our sport will move to the second, third... to the tenth level!