Bertrand Decoster (Mygale): “It will start again with the reopening of the circuits”

How are you coping with the current situation?

We take it philosophically, there is nothing else to do anyway. I talk a lot with other business leaders at the Magny-Cours technology park, which allows me to have different points of view, share information, etc. Afterwards, we must recognize that we are operating in a field that is not considered essential, and we realize this.

Because we are talking about a deconfinement for Monday May 11, but in our sector of activity, as long as the circuits are not reopened, the championships are stopped, there are no clear timetable, unfortunately we can do absolutely nothing except watch, anticipate, support each other... Customers, suppliers: we are all linked. Everyone will have to make an effort to make the crisis go as smoothly as possible.

A priori, it seems possible that competitions will resume in August. But today's truth is not always tomorrow's truth. It will start again with the reopening of the circuits, the teams will be able to resume some tests, discreetly at first, not in the form of collective tests. Then, there will be races, potentially behind closed doors, because it must be admitted that we already have championships which take place almost behind closed doors.

Yes, some promoters assure that this does not change the economic model…

So, it depends on the location too! Because we also have British F4, which supports the BTCC and performs each time in front of 30-40 spectators depending on the weekend and the capacity of the circuits. The BTCC announced a resumption in early August. But Great Britain is still at the peak of the epidemic and the circuits are closed there until the end of June. Everything will depend on developments there.

The only thing I see concretely today is that the Chinese have started again. They are a month behind us and have been working more and more for a month. Also, they operate differently, they have such faith in their government and are accustomed, by nature, to following its recommendations to the letter. Not all regions are at the same point: Beijing is deconfined, but there are still confined areas and it is impossible to enter the country anyway if you do not have a passport Chinese.

In Hong Kong, there are still people placed in “quarantines”, but fewer and fewer. Thus, we hoped that a round of the Chinese championship could be held at the end of May, but the government has not yet given its agreement. It could be that these are just tests, with a first race at the end of June after all.

What is the situation in other championships which use your chassis?

For everything in South East Asia, they are dependent on European pilots, so as long as the borders are not reopened, it will be complicated. In China, as said above, I think it should start again at the end of June.

In the United Kingdom, it is scheduled for the beginning of August but there could be a problem because 30% of the pilots are "exotic", many of them from South America, and they could have problems returning to British territory and to circulate there. In France, I am aware of a plan for a restart at the end of August, in Nogaro. Perhaps behind closed doors because demonstrations welcoming more than 5000 people are prohibited until the end of August. In Mexico, in Argentina, it is at a complete standstill, I have no more information at this stage.

From a practical point of view, how does Mygale work today?

We are completely closed, like all the businesses in the technology park. There are certainly always things to do, ranking, etc. I also regularly call our clients to find out what is happening in each country. I had Saudi Arabia and India yesterday, and that's where we really realize the unprecedented nature of the situation because the whole planet is more or less in slow motion, depending on the area. It’s impressive to see how much the world has shut down its economy.

And the world of sport will not be the first to be put back in the saddle, as you pointed out…

Our environment is superficial, but that does not mean it is not important. One thing also concerns motorsport in particular: unlike many others, collective in particular, being behind closed doors for us is not something unmanageable. A driver is behind closed doors in his helmet: he has the sound of the engine, the information from the engineer, whether or not there is noise in the stands, it doesn't change much in the end.

Whereas for a footballer, playing in an empty or packed stadium is an extremely different feeling. Above all, I believe that we should not be faced with an epidemic that comes and goes, that forces us into confinement or out of it... because that would be unmanageable. At some point, we can't stay like this anymore. I'm trying to think about how we can start differently, by changing a certain number of things.