{"id":600,"date":"2011-06-09T11:40:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T10:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/preprod.gmtmag.com\/?p=600"},"modified":"2016-06-17T16:02:40","modified_gmt":"2016-06-17T14:02:40","slug":"jean-christophe-babin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/business-n-en\/interview-2\/jean-christophe-babin-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Jean-Christophe Babin : CEO of TAG Heuer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"contenu_article\"><strong>Since when?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thirty years ago I did some Formula 3 training sessions, but it was already too late to become a driver! I\u2019ve always enjoyed go-karting and still do with my family; it\u2019s an activity that enables you to surpass your own limits without any particular consequences.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What sparked your interest?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am fascinated by Formula 1 racing and its extreme technology, a field in which distances between competitors are measured in millimetres and the aerodynamics are extremely spectacular. But this technology tends to supersede the show itself. I\u2019ve had a chance to drive F1 cars as well as cars in the Le Mans endurance race \u2013 and the latter give you a ground effect you don\u2019t get in Formula 1. The extremely broad aerofoils generate very special sensations around certain curves. Our LRS partner allows me to drive the Ford Arrows car, with its short and very agile wheelbases give me confidence when negotiating hairpin bends, but I\u2019m still very much a beginner.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s your finest memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My first ground-effect sensations around the Cygnes curve in Le Castellet, aboard a Peugeot 905. Its owner encouraged me to accelerate when coming out from the chicane despite my fears: \u201cthe faster you go, the more the car will grip the ground\u201d. I closed my eyes a bit and I did indeed have the impression of being literally sucked up by the car.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Of which performance are you most proud?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fact that I\u2019ve never wrecked a car!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What would you see as the ultimate objective?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always dreamed of lining up on the starting grid of the Le Mans 24 Hours. It\u2019s still a legendary race, but it would have been better to do it 20 years ago when amateurs still had a chance. It\u2019s become too dangerous now.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The dream location where you would love ro race?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was lucky enough to drive an Indycar at Miami Homestead, where the angles of the curves and the sense of the force of gravity are incredible. A chance to drive on the legendary Indy track would be fabulous. It\u2019s the longest and most technical, and TAG Heuer is its official timekeeper.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does this passion influence your professional life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not very much really, because within the framework of the experiences TAG Heuer offers its customers, I have a \u201cduty\u201d to take part in Formula 1, Formula 3 or CTA racing.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Since when?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thirty years ago I did some Formula 3 training sessions, but it was already too late to become a driver! I\u2019ve always enjoyed go-karting and still do with my family; it\u2019s an activity that enables you to surpass your own limits without any particular consequences.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What sparked your interest?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am fascinated by Formula 1 racing and its extreme technology, a field in which distances between competitors are measured in millimetres and the aerodynamics are extremely spectacular. But this technology tends to supersede the show itself. I\u2019ve had a chance to drive F1 cars as well as cars in the Le Mans endurance race \u2013 and the latter give you a ground effect you don\u2019t get in Formula 1. The extremely broad aerofoils generate very special sensations around certain curves. Our LRS partner allows me to drive the Ford Arrows car, with its short and very agile wheelbases give me confidence when negotiating hairpin bends, but I\u2019m still very much a beginner.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s your finest memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My first ground-effect sensations around the Cygnes curve in Le Castellet, aboard a Peugeot 905. Its owner encouraged me to accelerate when coming out from the chicane despite my fears: \u201cthe faster you go, the more the car will grip the ground\u201d. I closed my eyes a bit and I did indeed have the impression of being literally sucked up by the car.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Of which performance are you most proud?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fact that I\u2019ve never wrecked a car!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What would you see as the ultimate objective?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always dreamed of lining up on the starting grid of the Le Mans 24 Hours. It\u2019s still a legendary race, but it would have been better to do it 20 years ago when amateurs still had a chance. It\u2019s become too dangerous now.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The dream location where you would love ro race?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was lucky enough to drive an Indycar at Miami Homestead, where the angles of the curves and the sense of the force of gravity are incredible. A chance to drive on the legendary Indy track would be fabulous. It\u2019s the longest and most technical, and TAG Heuer is its official timekeeper.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does this passion influence your professional life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not very much really, because within the framework of the experiences TAG Heuer offers its customers, I have a \u201cduty\u201d to take part in Formula 1, Formula 3 or CTA racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15657,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600\/revisions\/15657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}