Nicolas Minassian : My life in cars
Le Mans racer Nicolas Minassian on starting out in a Citroen 2CV, dreaming of ‘70 F1 and driving the wheels off a Group C Jaguar
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My family car as a child…
Was an orange BMW 2002. a lovely car. That’s the first one I remember and then, later, it was a Citroën CX with self-levelling suspension. It was like a boat. My dad let me drive it into the garage when he came home from work when I was a little boy.
My first road car…
Was a Citroën 2CV. You could open up the whole top, like a convertible, with lots of room for friends. It rolled a lot in the corners and had very skinny tyres. I was amazed how it gripped. In winter I parked on a hill so I could bump-start it.
I was hooked on racing when…
My dad came home with a kart he’d taken as part payment of a debt and as soon as I went karting, on a small track in Marseille, I was completely obsessed by racing. It was all I wanted to do. Even before that, I loved anything with wheels, the faster the better. I was flat-out everywhere until I hit a car on my moped and spent four months in hospital.
My first ever win was…
I had support from Elf and won a lot of kart races, but the first win in cars was in the Renault Clio Cup at Albi in 1992, a very fast track. There were 100 entries, three races, but I won and went on to win the Junior championship. The prize was a season in Formula Renault. I have some very dusty trophies in my garage.
The win I remember the most was…
In Formula 3000 with Kid Jensen Racing in 1999 on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. It was my best ever win. I started from pole, led every lap, and this was very special because it spurred me on to do even better. It was a great team, we worked so well together, and I loved the track as it was back then.
If I could race in any era…
It would be Formula 1 in the mid- to late-1970s. I loved the cars, the different designs, the liveries, and it was a really gladiatorial time between the top drivers, with great racing. I always liked Mario Andretti, that he did Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, Le Mans – they raced so many types of cars in those days.
Mario Andretti in action in 1977. Minassian would have loved to race in this era of F1
Grand Prix Photo
Sprint Race…
Lewis or Max?
Senna or Prost?
Oversteer or understeer?
Oversteer.
Brands Hatch or Silverstone?
Silverstone.
The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given was…
In Formula 3 I had to go to a meeting with the head of Elf in Paris to talk about supporting my season and my team owner Gérard Camilli saw I was apprehensive. “Just talk to him like you talk to me,” he told me. “He is simply another human being – he goes to the toilet just like anyone else. So be yourself like you are with me.”
My favourite racing car is…
The Group C Jaguar XJR-14. It gave me the most pleasure. I raced it at the Silverstone Classic and it was unbelievable – wow, what a fantastic car, so fast. It has a six-speed gearbox, ratios very close together, so I had to be careful but I drove the wheels off it.
When driving I listen to…
All kinds of different music. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin, The Cure, Luciano Pavarotti, Bizet’s Carmen, and I love Pink Floyd. I met the Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason when I raced his Ferrari at Goodwood. That was so great for me.
If I could take part in one more big race it would be…
I never raced F1 so I want to do the grand prix at Silverstone. Such a great track, in a Ferrari, put those red overalls on, listen to the guys talking Italian on the radio – that’s what my heart tells me.
