David Castera: “I will do everything to ensure that the Dakar remains an adventure”

After the SUV trend in the city, you are relaunching the 4×4 trend!

It's to please you! It's a Toyota Hilux which is used for Dakar reconnaissance, the Périph' is not his favorite terrain. He has a diesel engine, not sure if he has the Crit'Air 1 sticker. (Laughs) I wasn't going to drive from the Pyrenees to Paris with my BMW motorcycle (he lives in Andorra. Editor's note)…

You recently celebrated your 53rd birthday; a previously busy life, for which you were prepared?

Absolutely not ! When I was young, I didn't know what to do with my life. Today, I project myself more, but at the time, I was too stupid. I try to explain it to my son, but he doesn't listen to me either; he reproduces my behavior with my parents. (Laughs) It’s inevitable.

Did your parents refuse to let you ride motorcycles?

No. Adolescence is not the best time of my life. I was not at all cut out for the school system. I stopped studying at 17. My way out was to take over my father's motorcycle shop, in Sauveterre-de-Béarn (near Pau. Editor's note). Looking back, leaving school to ride motorcycles for ten years was not a very well-constructed career choice. It’s my regret, I didn’t make my career 100%; with enough personal investment, I could have achieved better results (3rd in the 1997 Paris-Dakar with Yamaha. Editor’s note). It was the resourcefulness to raise the necessary budgets to run. When I won bonuses, I didn't have to blow everything.

Did you have your predecessor Hubert Auriol (motorcycle winner in 1981 and 1983) as a role model? Your two families were linked.

Hubert was indeed a role model when I was a little boy. I had