Grégoire de Mévius: “The Dakar is more than just a race”

Gregory, why did you choose this Nissan Navara to take us to the sand?

Because it is the same model as the one I drove in the 2002 and 2005 Dakars with the Dessoude team. This one was in the hands of Ari Vatanen under the official Nissan Motorsport banner in 2003. I learned that it was languishing in a garage near Annecy (Haute-Savoie). I didn't hesitate for long. Of all the vehicles I've driven in rally-raid, this pick-up gave me the best memories. Sensations close to a rally car. And then, there is a whole story with this machine. In 2001, I came across a 4×4 magazine that spread the test of this racing car designed and assembled in South Africa. With Stéphane Peterhansel, then my teammate at Dessoude, we convinced André (the owner of the eponymous team. Editor's note) to go there to buy such cars, the only ones capable of competing with Mitsubishi at the time. This pick-up had the look of a van, but the South Africans had made it a F1 of the desert, especially with the engine in the passenger compartment and not in front. This 4x4 used a sequential gearbox for the first time in rally-raid. The engine was also very lively, very balanced.

We will discuss the rally-raid part of your career a little later. First, tell us about your passion for racing…

Until I was 14, I didn't know that rallying existed. It was a neighbor, Michel de Laminne, who took me to see the Circuit des Ardennes. I was immediately captivated by the atmosphere. Being there, on the side of the road, to watch the spectacle of these cars sliding, hearing the noise and trying to guess who was going to come, at night, the smell of sausage rolls, the flying assistance vehicles. And then this proximity with the drivers. I couldn't believe it