Carpooling – Michèle Mouton

What are the precise contours of your mission with the FIA?

As regards the WRC, I am a “safety delegate”. But my specific title is “rally safety coordinator” within the FIA, because my scope of intervention is broader.

Notably, at this time we are carrying out a safety assessment on FIA regional rallies, which includes other championships such as those found in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa or America .

For example, I went to the Canaries or more recently to Lebanon, and this explains why I am on the move very often. The objective of this evaluation is to help these championships increase their level of security.

We are on board your company car, on the occasion of the rally from Finland. Is this vehicle, a Toyota Rav 4, has a special meaning?

No way. For each rally, the organizer provides me with a car with a driver (for the occasion Timo Rautiainen, former co-driver of Marcus Grönholm. Editor's note) who, in general, knows the route well and is aware of spectator safety issues in rallying.

It's real teamwork in collaboration with all the safety cars, before the start of the competition cars, because we must effectively inform the organization when the situation requires it. For these reasons, I need someone who is a rally professional.

When you go down the slopes just before the competitors, do you look at the route with the eye of a pilot or safety delegate?

I carry out anticipation work with the organizers upstream, using the safety plan, and then on the ground by taking the slopes around 30 minutes before the competitors. I always have the driver's eye, because I see the danger, where a car could unfortunately go out, which allows me to judge whether the spectators are well placed or not. It’s also a question of experience […]

Check out our Carpooling in its entirety with Michèle Mouton, in issue 2178 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.