Stephane "because I am worth it" Ratel Pie man Squared Stephane Ratel is a man with his fingers in so many pies he never has need of gloves. The 40-year-old, regarded as the playboy of the BPR series in the 1990s, now has a controlling role in the FIA GT Championship, the French and British GT Championships, the Le Mans Endurance Series, has developed the Spa 24- hours into one of the premier GT races in the world, and is one of the few men to be blessed and trusted by both the FIA and the ACO in equal measure. One of the few championships not to flourish under his guidance was the FIA Sports Car Championship, which was terminally ill when he inherited it, and has since been replaced by the LMES with infinitely more potential. Hommez in da Hood Ratel's growth in stature over the past ten years has been a very weird journey. Ratel had already developed a relationship with French manufacturer Venturi after organising an ad-hoc Cannonball Run from Paris to St Tropez to spice up a house warming party. He and his equally flamboyant friends raced everything from Lamborghinis to Ferraris through the streets, and it wasn't until a couple of months later, and some press coverage, that he decided that any kind of repeat on public roads would wind him up in jail. Dreaming Dream Cars Venturi contacted Ratel and offered to provide cars for the track for himself and his friends to race in safety. His history with spectacular endurance cars, born in 1984 when he became the youngest member of Porsche Club France racing a 911SC and later a Carrera 2.7RS, was nourished. He, Jurgen Barth and Patrick Peter, had a vision to start racing 'dream cars', everything from BMWs and McLarens to Morgans and Venturis. The BPR organisation was formed and enjoyed its first competitive year in 1994. Surf’s Up Ratel was considered the playboy of the three, having been born on the southern French coast in Perpignan on July 23, 1963. The youngest by some margin, the richest by some margin too, he had been brought up in Cambodia and France before settling in his home country, in Paris, during his teenage and university years. It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows him that he developed a love of skateboarding and surfing during his formative years. Air Force One In 1985 he started collecting and racing classic cars in club events, including a Ferrari BB 512, Lamborghini Countach and a Porsche Carrera 3 litre RS. The following year he served as a lieutenant in the French air force before heading off to San Diego University to study International Business. He returned to Europe with a job in London's fashion industry in 1989 and stayed for two years before his move to Paris, and that now famous house-warming party. BPR=FIAGT=XXXX The BPR series turned from a well-run, privately managed organisation firing off 50 cars at nearly every race in 1996, into the FIA GT Championship in 1997 at which point something completely unexpected happened. Peter, the quiet, thoughtful one of the three, tried to take the FIA to court and was eventually paid off. He has since climbed into bed with the ACO and started the Le Mans historic series as well as running the Tour Auto. Barth, Porsche's representative, did not take the lead either and instead took a role in the SRO organisation. It was the rich kid, the one with the bouffant who joked about his time in the London fashion industry that "it is one of the few businesses in England where you can keep your hair long and drive exotic cars!" who took over. The man didn't look like he could manage a hairspray canister, let alone an international championship. What was going on? It surely spelled the end. Porsche, McLaren, BMW and Mercedes made the championship very huge, very quickly, and all it took was for one slight problem (Porsche being unable to beat Mercedes anywhere bar Le Mans and inconsistencies in rule interpretation by the FIA), to bring the whole pack of cards tumbling down. I Certainly was in the Right Ratel looked a fool. The glory boy had succumbed to the lure and bright lights of manufacturers and was shown to have done so publicly. Far from giving up, as a rich-kid would be expected to do, he gathered up his forces, ploughed on with the championship, announced some far-fetched fantasies about people homologating their own cars, secured a three-year deal with television company Eurosport, which did not have the greatest of reputations at the time, and blew gently on the smouldering embers of his series. From GT1 and GT2, to just GT2, to GT2 and N-GT, the championship looked to be in a downward spiral but events of the past three years have proven the doubters wrong. From the smouldering ashes of 1999 he has built up the biggest race events in Europe outside of Formula One. Grids, TV and even spectators are all in evidence reversing the trends experienced by others. Burlington Bertie The success of the European Touring Car Championship, the Formula Renault V6 Championship, the FIA GT and French GT Championships would have been enough to restore his reputation, but there was more to come. As he celebrated his 40th birthday, Ratel was also becoming embroiled in the Le Mans Endurance Series, a new and better championship than the FIA Sports Car Championship whose death he had presided over. Have you got a Light, Mac? The ACO blessed the LMES and have provided funds, missing from the European Le Mans Series. The ELMS was ridiculed at the start, grew in stature, and was killed off at precisely the wrong moment, just as teams were looking at second and third years, sponsorship for the series had been secured, and momentum was being established. A second year for ELMS would have yielded what we are looking at for 2004 with the LMES. Build it and They will Come In November 2003, Ratel also opened negotiations to restore the British GT Championship and intends on introducing similar regulations to that of his French series. Ferrari, Saleen, Chrysler and Lister are all in the frame to join in the national championships which are seen by some international teams as a viable alternative to the FIA series. "I want to build GT racing," said Ratel to British paper Motorsport News. "If you start with the national teams, then when they have the budget they can come and do the international series. I want to build the package and then the championship will grow." Global Challenge Two races have been added to the FIA GT Championship schedule in Dubai and China, which has a three-year deal. In 2005, more races outside Europe will be incorporated. The rich kid with the hair is going global. |
Andrew Cotton |
