One of the most popular French rally drivers (he finished 3rd in the French championship in 1984), Jacques Panciatici joined the stars this Sunday, December 1, 2024, at the age of 76. This Tuesday, December 3, David Hallyday paid tribute to him, via an Instagram story. “Goodbye my friend. You were an example of courage for us all! We love you.“, we can read. A beautiful message, to which he added a photo of the deceased, when he was much younger, and still a pilot. For those who don't know, David Hallyday is not just a singer and actor. He was also a racing driver. He was notably crowned French FFSA GT champion in 2001, one of the main car racing championships in France. He also participated five times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing three times, with his best results being two 28th places.
In 2016, he had a very bad experience on the track, as he told Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine on the set of C à Vous: “I was racing for a big team. We led the race, in our category, until 6am. And there it had rained. So I called on the radio to have the tires changed. I was told that I had to stay behind for at least two or three laps. I told them the car was holding up better. I told them I was going to screw up, and I screwed up… I blamed myself for not having contradicted the decision.”
David Hallyday, his tribute to Ken Block
A poor individual performance which was not without consequences since it “loses the team“. A failure that he experienced as “a trauma“for a long time, he who never hid his competitive spirit:”There's a whole team behind it, there are around twenty people… I had nightmares about it“. Since then, he has moved on: “It built me up for the future. Today, I look at it as an experience through which it was necessary passer“. And then to return to his tribute to Jacques Panciatici, let us remember that this is unfortunately not the first time that David Hallyday has mourned the death of a pilot.
In 2023, it was Ken Block, who notably participated in the World Rally and Rallycross Championships, who died while snowmobiling in the north of the United States. The one who was known worldwide for his very spectacular videos with millions of views left hundreds of thousands of fans devastated by his disappearance, including David Hallyday. The latter had simply published a black and white portrait of the pilot born in California, accompanied by his dates of birth and death, as well as his signature.
