In February 1994, Jeanne Damerot, an octogenarian former nun, left her retirement home in Ain for a few hours to go meet her idol: the Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna. An incredible encounter, a few weeks before the accident which cost the Brazilian pilot his life.
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Her name is Jeanne. In the din of a stand at the Castellet circuit, she sometimes covers her ears when the howl of an engine becomes too heartbreaking. She is very small, very slender, in her wheelchair. A pink wool cardigan over a blue blouse, her impeccable white curls, she seems to have dolled herself up like a teenager on a date with her lover…
And this is somewhat the case, this February 28, 1994, in the hangars of the Paul Ricard circuit, where the Williams-Renault team is conducting private tests, a few days before the launch of the F1 season, in Australia.
At the wheel of the car which is spinning wildly on the asphalt ribbon, Ayrton Senna. One of the best drivers of all time, undoubtedly one of the most famous too, already three times world champion. His fierce duels with Frenchman Alain Prost fascinated F1 fans. And the others. A few months earlier Prost retired, Senna left McLaren for Williams, a page has turned.
This February 28, 94, Jeanne is far from the retirement home where she lives near Bourg-en-Bresse in Ain. At almost 82 years old, she has a little difficulty walking but it is mainly the slowness of age that does not please her at all.
Jeanne, what she likes is speed. The craziest speed, that of the circuits, that of Formula 1. She never misses a Grand Prix. At the end of the previous season, in '93, she asked the nursing staff at her retirement home to wake her up at 4 a.m. to watch the last two Grands Prix, that of Japan and that of Adelaide in Australia.
Ayrton Senna in 1994
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© JEAN FRANCOIS GALERON / MAXPPP TEAMSHOOT
Speed is his thing, Formula 1 his ultimate passion, and his absolute idol is Ayrton Senna. She has posters of the Brazilian pilot on all the walls of her room. But Jeanne's health is declining and at the Hôtel-Dieu retirement home in Bourg-en-Bresse, the nurses and the director decided to give the old lady a gift. They therefore wrote a letter to the press service of Renault Sport, whose engine powers the Williams, to request a signed photo of Ayrton.
The result will exceed all their expectations. Touched by the request, Jean-Jacques Delaruwière, the head of Renault's press service invites Jeanne to attend a private testing session on the Paul-Ricard circuit in the Var! Those in charge of the retirement home can't believe their ears.
Manu militari, the trip between Bourg-en-Bresse and the Castellet circuit is organized in a medical vehicle (Renault!) and on the appointed day and time, Jeanne finds herself on her wheelchair in the Renault workshop, waiting quietly that Ayrton Senna has completed the trials.
A few years ago, Jean-Jacques Delaruwière told the rest. “She asks me a thousand and one questions. A few minutes later – following the established program – Ayrton leaves the seat of his car and chats with the engineers. Discreetly I remind him of his appointment by showing him the old lady. The interview was supposed to last 5 minutes. It will last almost half an hour. I translate. Jeanne explains to Ayrton that he is the best pilot in the world. Then the conversation shifts to their shared faith in God. Jeanne gives Ayrton a medal from the Virgin Mary so that she can watch over him. Ayrton holds her hands then signs caps and photos for her… An exceptional moment!“
Questioned shortly after by Brazilian television, Ayrton Senna confirmed the moving nature of this improbable meeting with his octogenarian French lover by specifying “that they had kissed but not on the mouth…”
Two months later, almost to the day, on May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna collided at more than 200 km per hour with the wall of the Tamburello corner, on the Imola circuit in Italy. His death will be announced a few hours later.
Devastation for Jeanne, who repeated that it was up to her to leave and not him… At the Bourg-en-Bresse retirement home, Grand Prix Sundays never again had the same intensity. On May 31, 1996, at the age of 83, Jeanne Damerot went to join her idol. In the paradise of lovers of pure speed, where the screams resonate hypnotics engines, shrill and serious as death.
