The other day, while Jacky Ickx and I were having lunch in a nice little Italian restaurant, Jacky told me: “I just received a beautiful book whose preface, very touching, is written by Jean-Claude Andruet. You absolutely must tell this story on our website! “.

With that, he offers me a copy of this book and continues: “The story of this boy is really fantastic and it’s worth talking about. Now that I have read this book, I sincerely regret not having seen the enthusiasts at the edge of the circuits as they deserved. You must try to get in touch with the author of this book and ask for his collaboration on our site! “. The master has spoken!

Back home, I think about Jacky’s words, but where will I find the contact details of this Thierry Coulibaly? Internet? I do a search that of course shows me all the sites promoting this book, but none reveals the contact details of this gentleman. By dint of patience, I find a guest book on which a Thierry Coulibaly left an email address. So I take the risk of writing to this address, without revealing the subject of my request, asking if this person is indeed the one who wrote the book “Passion… 24 Heures du Mans” and, if necessary, to get in touch with me.

Luck is with me since two days later, I receive an affirmative answer from Thierry who tells me to be both surprised and delighted that someone writes to him from Belgium and asks me: “What can I do for you?” So I hasten to tell him about my discussion with Jacky Ickx and suggest that he collaborate on the site dedicated to Jacky by writing an article on the vision he had of him during his participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

I admit that, given the quality of this book and the photos it contains, I thought Thierry was a professional photographer or journalist and it is with this idea in mind that I asked him for his collaboration. It is with simplicity that Thierry writes to me: “I am not at all a professional photographer or journalist, this book is just the result of a passion, and I did it without any pretension, but I am happy to have dared to realize it.

Avant de vous en dire plus à propos de Thierry Coulibaly, permettez-moi de résumer la préface écrite par Jean-Claude Andruet:

   “Today I have the privilege of writing these few lines on the photos of your passion, on fidelity to your passion, and the years attached to it.
  Your request touches me, you the kid I saw behind the fences of the closed park the first time I ran the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
  In reality, it was your big little eyes eager to capture a world you dreamed of that moved me, because you were trapped in this damned fence, which you accepted without saying anything, with respect, as your parents had taught you so well.
   I don’t know how to transcribe it, but I felt all that, and I came to get you to experience the race with us in the stand. You seduced the whole team and every year it was our rendez-vous… the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
   This friendship, the tenacity of which amazes… I thank you for granting it to me; it is precious to me… and I am happy, and proud, to see you succeed in creating such a different collection on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a testimony beyond your reach… from so many enthusiasts… who, I hope, like me, will

You probably already understood everything!

From the first pages of this book, we’re in the bath… Not only the past comes back to memory, but everyone recognizes themselves in the skin of this kid with a lot of passion and light in their eyes. What we dreamed, he lived it, and nothing else is worth seeing this book. Very little text, just the essentials, but then… photos and what photos!

Jacky Ickx himself, very touched by this story, wrote the foreword:

    It is necessary that the spotlights have been extinguished to understand the selfishness and individualism which characterize in general the car drivers. Without the affection and passion of the spectators who gravitate around this sport, it would not exist, nor would the drivers!
    The preface by Jean-Claude Andruet evokes the most touching and beautiful story that can be made to Thierry Coulibaly and all those who, like him, love motorsport.     
   It is certain, dear Thierry, that from now on I will have a different view of all those who are on the other side of the barrier and who support us day after day in our quest for success.
   To you and to all of them, thank you, thank you,

What a beautiful tribute from these two champions to the address of an enthusiast in whom everyone can recognize themselves! Pilots of the present generation should learn from this.

But who is this Thierry Coulibaly?
That’s the question I asked myself as soon as I got his book in my hands. Apart from the story he lived with Jean-Claude Andruet, he doesn’t talk about him in his book. No photo either. It’s really the discretion of the anonymous enthusiast.
That’s why, from my first post, I asked him to tell me more about him. With great kindness, here is what he replied to me: “I was born in 1954 to an African father and a Breton mother (my father came to go to war in France and married his war godmother. There is, moreover, a documentary film about my father in which I symbolize his escape and answer the filmmaker’s questions).
From a very young age, I had a passion for racing cars and Jean-Claude Andruet got me into the pits. Since that day in June 1967, we have remained close friends.
It is quite surprising to find that most people would have liked to have a photo of me in the book, when I did not want to do so. I wouldn’t have imagined that.
The preface of Jean-Claude is really very poignant and extremely well written, he is gifted for a multitude of things this boy.

Of course, these comments are published with the permission of Thierry Coulibaly who adds: “It is an honor for my parents who, alas, are no longer there but to whom I am very grateful for having instilled in me respect for others, and the safe values of our society.

We can’t do better and, thanks to Jacky Ickx once again, I have the chance and honor to have a friendly contact with a great man, Thierry Coulibaly, who published a very big book, Passion… les 24 Heures du Mans.

                                           Written by Julien Garnier – Originally published on 08-12-2005