Sports Car : What is your first automotive memory?
Christophe Dechavanne: As a child, I remember sitting on my father’s lap in his 404, with wooden wedges so that I could touch the pedals. It was in Coursegoules, a small village in the South of France, during the holidays. Otherwise, later, I often stole my grandmother’s Daf 44 Variomatic when it snowed.
I grew up in Montmartre and, at the slightest snowflake, my friends would call me. Discreetly, I would take the keys to the DAF of my grandmother who lived with us. We would meet at the Étoile, each in his own car, heading for the Bois de Boulogne. I would show them how to put the car into slide. However, no one had ever taught me. It was instinctive.
I always learned on the job. I must say that I was passionate. At 15, I fell asleep reading Echappement magazine. My dream was to become a rally driver.
It seems that the automotive world was present in your family quite early on…
In a way, yes: I have a great-grandfather on my mother’s side who exported the first Mercedes to Canada and the United States. He also had the largest Mercedes agency on the Champs-Elysées. He was a partner of Mr. Benz and had a bunch of shares, but he ended up arguing with him and sold them back to him for a packet of sweets. Too bad!
How did you come to practice motorsport?
I started very late, at the very beginning of the 90s. I was in my thirties. I wasn’t part of the inner circle. In fact, I started because one day, José Rosinski called me. At the time, he was deputy editor-in-chief of Sport Auto and commentated on the grands prix on TF1. I knew his voice well.
He said to me: “I hear you like car racing.” “I’m…- Sport Auto
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