You can love the scents of gourmet cooking and the smell of gasoline. Olivier Da Silva, owner of the Michelin-starred Odas restaurant in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) and Vert bocage in Franqueville-Saint-Pierre, is one of them. “I have been a motorcyclist since 2003. For a long time I did not even have a car”, explains the famous chef who moved to Rouen in 2013. “But with the launch of the star restaurant in 2010 [dans son ancien établissement, les Jardins d’Epicure, NDLR]when my first child was born, I let go of the handlebars a bit ”.
Only here, when the passion is there, does it always take over. “About two years ago, I went back. And I started racing on the circuit ”. It was there that he met the members of Team Normandie Motosport. First as a sponsor, then quickly as a full member of this young team. “Circumstances made me take on more and more responsibilities until I became the equivalent of a team manager”.
Prestigious competitions
A new universe within a group that has recently evolved into the Superstock World Endurance Championship, the equivalent of the second division for long distance events.
An entrepreneur at heart, Olivier Da Silva is involved, along with a few other enthusiasts, in the development of the association, which manages three regular drivers on cars that easily exceed 300 km / h. “This year we did it 24 hours of Le Mans where we are 8th in our category, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium where we approach the podium by finishing 4th. And in September we will compete in the Bol d’Or at Le Castelet where we hope to do even better ”.
Prestigious events that the starred chef discovers from the inside with the enthusiasm of a beginner, a pinch of stars in the eyes, but not those of Michelin. “These are monuments to the discipline. Still, it is very easy to use. Typically, for a race, we stay a week. Between the installation of the paddock, the tests, the competition … We live it from the inside, in contact with the best, in all simplicity. And then there is the collective, the life of the team. It is both a human and a technical adventure during which we sleep little ”, smiles those who hope to convince other sponsors to join him to inflate a budget that is around 150,000 euros a year.
“We are involved in the game when we start getting results. We would like to go further ”. With essential ingredients, just like in the kitchen, passion, rigor and team spirit.
