N° 139 - TEAM PROCHIMLUB SPORT
- RAMEL
- Grégory
- FRA
- 16/08/1980
|
When you take off on a Dakar without assistance, you’d better have a strong mental. Young 28-year-old French rider Grégory Ramel forged his will power after living several upsets. A debutant during the 2003 Dakar, he had already been the victim of technical problems and massive fatigue that had forced him to quit. “When the doctors were done with me my blood pressure was extremely low. I was so disappointed after that. I said to myself that I have to be back for the next edition.” The following year he came back to finish 61st overall. “I had waited for that moment for such a long time… It was a really tough edition. And I made it to the finish, like my father who was in a car. Real pride”.
“To stop after two days in Africa is enraging!” Grégory Ramel will have revenge on his mind when in the sand of the 2008 Dakar. His third participation concluded with a retirement during the second stage in Morocco. The cause: a problem with the rear wheel that couldn’t be repaired without assistance. But nothing discourages this young man. As a rookie on the 2003 Dakar, he also suffered mechanical woes and massive fatigue that forced him to drop out. “When the doctors were done with me my blood pressure was extremely low. I was so disappointed after that. I said to myself that I have to be back for the next edition.” The following year he came back to finish 61st overall.
In the Ramel family determination is passed from father to son. “My father took part in 18 Dakars, four times on a motorcycle, once in a truck and the last time he was back in a car in 2004”, explains Grégory Ramel. “A pure amateur”, like his son who he brought along on the 2003 edition of the Dakar. To begin riding a motorbike at the age of three, with tiny wheels, certainly contributed to Grégory Ramel catching “the Dakar virus”. Today, Gregory continues following his father. He does the Dakar without assistance in the “adventure spirit of the 80s.
The physical aspect is looked after by an old friend, former professional cyclist, Frédéric Moncassin who takes care of all the training. Grégory has a programme that has him working out six days out of seven, which he has to juggle with his job as an instructor at a highway safety centre, which allows him to clear his head. “There are as many dangers on our roads as there are on the tracks of the Dakar.”
