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Plus de FigaroQuotes from the Podium
07-08-2009
Jérémie Beyou (Bernard Paoli), winner of the leg and 5th overall
The tough nature of the race :
“The problem with this race is that you really have to suffer, at least I have yet to find any other way of doing it, and I think that anyone who thinks they can win it just by clicking their fingers has yet to be born !”
On sleep :
“You have to take it at the right moments… but in the whole race there weren’t many of them !”
Strategy :
“It was a case of winning a favourable position in the early stages, and then watching every little detail, not letting any opportunity go by. I was above the rest of the fleet throughout, and needed to be because the wind was very shifty, like during the final afternoon when it was really at its worst. You just had to be steering and trimming the whole time. It was a definite decision to go north to find the breeze. That position above the fleet was a good one to be in, because I could bear down on them at any time. I was a bit early in making my move perhaps, I could have waited a bit longer, but there you go, it paid off anyway: I’m back in the overall rankings, back in the game, I’m no longer 46 minutes behind the leader” [Beyou now stands 5th overall, 27 minutes behind]
A tribute to his patrons :
“This win is for the Paoli family, without whom I wouldn’t be here… and that would be a real pity !”
Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), 2nd in the leg and overall leader
Strategy :
“I had quite a traumatic start… then took a more westerly option which was fabulous, quite similar to Jeremie’s, and managed to move from the back of the fleet right up to the front. You had to go hunting offshore of Cap Finisterre. I think that was the key to this race, taking that option. In any case it’s great ! I’m made up !”
The Opposition :
“The long upwind leg was a bit painful, but I’m pleased to have managed my on-board routine and at the end I wasn’t all that tired. Thierry Chabagny and Nicolas Troussel scared me, they came back very strongly and they were a threat right up to the end. Jérémie on the other hand was well positioned with too much of a lead so there was no use in getting wound up and risking everything to go after him. And then of course it’s Jérémie Beyou ! Just because you pass him doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to beat him !”
Second placed twice :
“To have finished second on each of the first two legs is more than I could have dared hope for ! First overall is great as well, but I’m not going to sit back, there’s a long way to go, two long legs...”
The pressure of being overall leader :
“Pressure ? No, I don’t feel any particular pressure. I’m going to try to stay focussed, the others can have the pressure, to have some youngster shaking up the hierarchy a bit !”
Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) 3rd in the leg, 11th overall
The winning move :
Because I started badly, I was in attacking mode straight away. When the wind came back everyone seemed to have the impression that the situation was going to be static: the train had left the station and there wasn’t really much that could be done about it. That didn’t turn out to be the case. In trying to creep up to the north a little, I realised that you could go up without losing too much ground in the rankings. So I kept creeping up, and didn’t lose anything, and even gained a bit. So I said to myself, we’re on an escalator here, onto a good thing, I’ll stick with it as far as it goes. So that’s how I pulled it off. I found myself with a lot of lateral separation but without having lost anything. Afterwards, when the wind came back a bit stronger, all I had to do was just come down to lay the mark (SN1) and win some places.”
The pleasure of being in front :
That’s what you do La Solitaire du Figaro for, for the fun of overtaking your mates. It’s a good feeling. Especially because on the first leg I finished 12th. I wasn’t very far from the leadesr, but all the same I was in the second rank and that’s always annoying. So I had to go all out to pull back, and it worked. I haven’t been on the podium since 2006, so to finish third here is fantastic !”
“You have to take it at the right moments… but in the whole race there weren’t many of them !”
Strategy :
“It was a case of winning a favourable position in the early stages, and then watching every little detail, not letting any opportunity go by. I was above the rest of the fleet throughout, and needed to be because the wind was very shifty, like during the final afternoon when it was really at its worst. You just had to be steering and trimming the whole time. It was a definite decision to go north to find the breeze. That position above the fleet was a good one to be in, because I could bear down on them at any time. I was a bit early in making my move perhaps, I could have waited a bit longer, but there you go, it paid off anyway: I’m back in the overall rankings, back in the game, I’m no longer 46 minutes behind the leader” [Beyou now stands 5th overall, 27 minutes behind]
A tribute to his patrons :
“This win is for the Paoli family, without whom I wouldn’t be here… and that would be a real pity !”
Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), 2nd in the leg and overall leader
Strategy :
“I had quite a traumatic start… then took a more westerly option which was fabulous, quite similar to Jeremie’s, and managed to move from the back of the fleet right up to the front. You had to go hunting offshore of Cap Finisterre. I think that was the key to this race, taking that option. In any case it’s great ! I’m made up !”
The Opposition :
“The long upwind leg was a bit painful, but I’m pleased to have managed my on-board routine and at the end I wasn’t all that tired. Thierry Chabagny and Nicolas Troussel scared me, they came back very strongly and they were a threat right up to the end. Jérémie on the other hand was well positioned with too much of a lead so there was no use in getting wound up and risking everything to go after him. And then of course it’s Jérémie Beyou ! Just because you pass him doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to beat him !”
Second placed twice :
“To have finished second on each of the first two legs is more than I could have dared hope for ! First overall is great as well, but I’m not going to sit back, there’s a long way to go, two long legs...”
The pressure of being overall leader :
“Pressure ? No, I don’t feel any particular pressure. I’m going to try to stay focussed, the others can have the pressure, to have some youngster shaking up the hierarchy a bit !”
Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) 3rd in the leg, 11th overall
The winning move :
Because I started badly, I was in attacking mode straight away. When the wind came back everyone seemed to have the impression that the situation was going to be static: the train had left the station and there wasn’t really much that could be done about it. That didn’t turn out to be the case. In trying to creep up to the north a little, I realised that you could go up without losing too much ground in the rankings. So I kept creeping up, and didn’t lose anything, and even gained a bit. So I said to myself, we’re on an escalator here, onto a good thing, I’ll stick with it as far as it goes. So that’s how I pulled it off. I found myself with a lot of lateral separation but without having lost anything. Afterwards, when the wind came back a bit stronger, all I had to do was just come down to lay the mark (SN1) and win some places.”
The pleasure of being in front :
That’s what you do La Solitaire du Figaro for, for the fun of overtaking your mates. It’s a good feeling. Especially because on the first leg I finished 12th. I wasn’t very far from the leadesr, but all the same I was in the second rank and that’s always annoying. So I had to go all out to pull back, and it worked. I haven’t been on the podium since 2006, so to finish third here is fantastic !”
