You can love the aromas of gourmet cuisine and the smell of gasoline. Olivier Da Silva, owner of the starred restaurant Odas in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) and Vert bocage in Franqueville-Saint-Pierre, is one of them. “I’ve been a biker since 2003. For a long time I didn’t even have a car,” explains the renowned chef who moved to Rouen in 2013. “But with the launch of the restaurant, the star in 2010 [dans son ancien établissement, les Jardins d’Epicure, NDLR]the birth of my first child, I let go of the handlebars a bit”.
Only here, when the passion is there, it always takes over. “About two years ago, I got back into it. And I started to ride 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 responsibility until I became the equivalent of a team manager”.
Prestigious competitions
A new universe within a group that has recently evolved in 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 runs three titular drivers in cars that easily exceed 300 km/h. “This year, we did the 24 Hours of Le Mans where we finished 8th in our category, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium where we approached the podium by being 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 cook discovers from the inside with the enthusiasm of a novice, a pinch of stars, but not those of Michelin, in the eyes. “These are monuments to the discipline. And yet, it is very user-friendly. Generally, for a race, we stay a week. Between the installation of the paddock, the tests, the competition… We experience the thing from the inside, in contact with the best, in all simplicity. And then there is the collective, the life of the team. It’s both a human and technical adventure during which you don’t sleep much”, smiles the one who hopes to convince other sponsors to join him to inflate a budget which is around 150,000 euros annually.
“We get caught up in the game when we start to get results. We would like to go further”. With as essential ingredients, just like in the kitchen, passion, rigor and team spirit.
–
