the essential
If the Ruthenois Jean-Jacques Enjalbert was, in 1976 during the 3rd edition, the first Aveyronnais to win the event which was then called the Rouergue criterium, at the wheel of an Alpine 1800 that he had bought to Bernard Darniche, it was the previous year, in 1975, that he entered the legend of Rouergue.
Already present during the first edition of the Rouergue rally, then called the Rouergue criterium, in 1974, local driver Jean-Jacques Enjalbert was forced to retire even though he was in a good position at the wheel of an Alpine that he had bought second hand. “I remember the first Rouergue as if it were yesterday. I participated in the creation of the special stages, including the finish of the one at Villecomtal-Pont-de-Mouret, right on the bridge. Believe it if you you want but that’s where, after a speed bump located on an overhang, I arrived a little too quickly and after the jump I fell too hard and I broke the bridge”, he remembered. The Ruthenian was ahead of a certain Michèle Mouton, the only woman in history to have won in rounds of the world championship and to win a title of vice-world champion.
In 1975, a festival in the rain
A year later, during the second edition contested in terrible weather, rain, fog and even snow at the start from Rodez, while he was co-driver of the small Simca 1000 Rallye 2 of Jean-François Ayrinhac, better known as nickname “Patache”, Enjalbert distinguished himself by taking the wheel. “When I saw these weather conditions, I said: ‘That suits me’, and I asked Jean-François to hand me the wheel.” It was the start of a real festival. The duo chained together scratch times in front of the Porsches of the favourites who could not compete with the prowess of Jean-Jacques Enjalbert. “At the end of the first lap, we were first and, although I should have given the wheel back to Jean-François, he asked me to keep it.”
Repro CP
Unfortunately for the local duo, in the early morning, the road dried up and the Porsches were able to show their power. Which did not prevent the Ruthenois from finishing in second place. The following year, Jean-Jacques Enjalbert took the start at the wheel of an Alpine 1800 that belonged to Bernard Darniche. And, there again, in terrible weather, he performed one after another and won, thus becoming the first Aveyron resident to put his name on the winners list of the event.
Enjalbert returned in the fourth edition of Rouergue, but a puncture deprived him of victory and he took third place. The Ruthenois then turned to other events and participated several times in the Tour de France auto, in which he won his group. A few participations in Monte-Carlo allowed him to win in the amateur category and finish 10th overall in 1977. And in 1978, at the wheel of a Golf GTI, he took second place in the Pirelli trophy, behind an impressive Audi Quattro.
“Entering total meditation is a thousand times more intense”
Breathtaking performances that he explains in his own way. “To surpass yourself behind the wheel, you have to be elsewhere, in another dimension. If you stay in touch with the present, unconsciously you don’t let yourself go completely.” The Ruthenian should then have participated in the Tour de Corse, still at the wheel of a Volkswagen but he took another route. “That year, when I should have gone to Corsica, I felt the call of India and I left there”explains the man who, for many years, has lived as an ascetic in Cordes-sur-Ciel, makes frequent trips to India and devotes his time to spirituality and meditation. “When you win a rally, you experience an intense moment rich in emotions, but when you manage to enter into total meditation it is a thousand times more intense”slips the septuagenarian, forever a legend of Rouergue.
