Gérard Bacle: “My office was the track”

Hello Gérard. A Mini, and a red one at that, we're really on topic...

I've always been passionate about Minis! When I was young, I worked in a garage where they prepared Coopers, and that taste has never left me. This one, obviously, no longer has much in common with the original Mini, but it's a small everyday car that serves me well and gives me pleasure. When I slip behind the wheel, I no longer know how old I am. The only infidelities I've been with it were with Alfa RomeoSpider, Giulia, Giulietta, GTV2000, so many models reflecting the passion that was the driving force of my life.

How did this passion for cars come about?

When I was a kid, I loved getting into cars. I had a great-uncle, my grandfather's brother, who did time trials in Morocco, from city to city. He had a Citroën Traction. I grew up in Morocco until I was 10; then, when I arrived in Marseille, I became crazy about motorsport. I pestered my father to take me to Mont Ventoux, to Sainte-Beaume, to the Tour Auto, to the Coupe de Alpes. I was crazy about rally.

What was your first real contact with sport?

It dates back to the Mediterranean Rally, the forerunner of the Monte-Carlo, in 1969! I was 22 years old and a group of friends who were rally fans, including Michel Meunier, offered to take me with him. I had a great time. Back in Marseille, he introduced me to Jean-Claude Gamet, a professional driver, with whom I went to do the reconnaissance of the Snow and Ice Rally. Convinced that I had a little talent after having me drive, he told my friend Michel that I absolutely had to race. So, the latter lent me his Alfa Giulia, and that's how I found myself at the start of the Mistral Rally in that same year 1969.