He Went To Paris

He Went To Paris

Somebody forgot to tell Jeff Gordon how champion racecar drivers behave in Europe. Whether they’re the greats of F1 or Rally and touring car champions, European drivers generally remain removed from their fans, especially on racedays. What NASCAR fans take for granted—the gauntlet of autograph seekers, thousands of pass-bearing gawkers in the garages, screaming fanatics wherever one turns—is totally alien to most European racing experiences. So an event like the Race of Champions, where drivers (gasp!) sign autographs at a fan walk before the race and socialize genially with each others and with spectators, is a welcome novelty on the world racing scene.

When Gordon traveled to Paris as half of the US Nation’s Cup team in early December, the world racing community saw how one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers ever conducts himself—- and the results were immediately noticeable. According to a number of European racing sites, Gordon was friendly and welcoming to all the fans, cheerfully signing autographs both at the fan walk and around the Stade de France. One of the French sporting newspapers reported approvingly that "Le champion a démontré son affabilité en signant des autographes pour beaucoup de admirateurs" ('The champion demonstrated his graciousness by signing autographs for many admirers'). A writer on a Finnish World Rally website wrote that Gordon "provided a model that Rally drivers would do well to imitate in his respectful treatment of fans." What Gordon’s fans in the States take for granted—his willingness to spend time with fans and to interact as often as he can, given his schedule and security concerns—was a novel and welcome change for world racing fans who knew Gordon only by his on-track reputation.

That was clear when the drivers first paraded around the stadium before the Nation’s Cup races began. Only the two French teams got more applause and cheering than Gordon and Pastrana did, and the two American drivers responded by smiling and enthusiastically waving to the crowd of about 40,000 shivering fans. After that, every time Gordon’s name was mentioned, there were enthusiastic cheers, especially when Gordon proved that he could maneuver his Citroen XSara WRC around the hairpin turns of the narrow French track with flair. Gordon’s times improved with every run and it became clear that the American champion was in his element; as a Brazilian site noted of Gordon’s defeat of Nelson Piquet Jr., “Gordon pareceu muito confortável entre os pilotos de todo o mundo” (‘Gordon seemed like he was very comfortable with the drivers of the rest of the world’).

When Gordon defeated Frenchman Sebastian Bourdais, setting up a rematch with Tom Kristenson and a probable championship match with French rally champion Sébastian Loeb, the crowd, which had grown to about 55,000 in the stadium despite a cold drizzle, cheered loudly for Gordon’s win. The defending Champ-Car Series titlist said simply, “There was nothing I could do to beat Jeff.” The largely-Parisian crowd seemed to know, as one of the Eurosport announcers said, that Gordon didn’t need to be there, but was there because he wanted to be—and they reacted warmly to his presence. When Gordon’s Renault Mégane refused to go into gear in the semi-final against Kristenson, the crowd whistled and booed loudly when the organizers would not order a rematch. They had passionately wanted to see the best of America matched against the best French driver of 2005, and their disappointment was vocal and obvious. It was clear that Gordon had won over the notoriously fickle hearts of the native fans.

For American fans, who couldn’t see the race live unless they happened to have a special HDTV network feed, this race may have slipped by without much notice. But the Race of Champions was broadcast live on many of the F1 broadcast channels from Eurosport to Al-Jazeera, and on highlight shows broadcast to most of South America, Asia, and Africa. While the ROC organizers’ estimate of 190 million viewers is probably high, Gordon’s performance—both as a capable driver and as an ambassador for American racing—certainly did not go unmarked in the world racing community. While he clearly won over the racing directors of Michelin and Citröen, both of whom spoke warmly about Gordon’s skill, it was the thousands of spectators, and hundreds of thousands of viewers and inhabitants of racing chat rooms all over the world, who took away the most positive impression of Gordon in Paris.

The final verdict on Gordon’s performance? As one of the F1 boards put it, “a great challenge from the NASCAR champion.” In other words, well worth missing a certain banquet to carry the stars and stripes.

"Unleaded"

Jeff Gordon Online