Alain Prost (karatchian)

[Vigil]

1921 - 1954

In the year 1921, Alain's grandmother Victoria flees from the massacres in Armenia to France. When she finally arrives in France, she feels relieved. She goes to Lyon, a city in France, but other people from Armenia tell her, that there are only very few jobs available. They propose to go to Saint-Etienne or Saint-Chamond as it would be easier to find a job there - and they are right. Victoria finds a job very soon as a household help. After some time, she meets her future husband, who is Armenian as well, his name is Karatchian. Some years later, Victoria has a baby girl. Her name: Marie-Rose Karatchian.

 

At this time, Alain's grandfather on his father's side, his name is Prost, works as a book-keeper in a big factory. He and his wife have a son called André Prost.

 

Around 1950, André Prost and Marie-Rose Karatchian get married and move to a simple house at the address 21, rue Dugas-Montbel, 42400 St. Chamond. In the first-floor, there is the studio of the company "Toutube", founded by Alain's dad André Prost. They mainly produce elements for chairs and kitchen tables. Both André and Marie-Rose Prost are working in the studio.

 

Their business goes well. At the end of the year 1952, they got their first child: it's a son. They call him "Daniel".

 

1955 - 1969

Alain Prost was born two and a half years after Daniel, on 24th February 1955 in Lorette, a small village with about 5'000 inhabitants, situated next to Saint-Chamond. Now, the family is complete. André and Marie-Rose Prost are happy with their two sons. They want to offer them a better childhood than the one they have known themselves.

 

Alain and Daniel are accomplices. Daniel papers the walls of his room with pictures of racing cars, which he got from motorsport magazines. Alain prefers motor-cycles, but mainly soccer. Alain is an average student, not bad, but no genius, neither. He wants to become a sports instructor. So, playing soccer is his big hobby. Very soon, he establishes his place as right winger. Alain starts playing soccer with eight years (in 1963 he wrote himself in at a local soccer club - the "Club Olympique") and he will continue to play soccer until he's 17. Without a doubt, he would have become a professional soccer player, if he wouldn't have found an activity that brought him even stronger emotions. He still follows soccer...

 

Asked about his childhood, Alain said: "People often ask a famous person about the childhood. Was the childhood happy or unhappy? Were the parents poor or rich? I would say, for me it was in the middle." Alain's parents had enough money, but weren't exactly rich. He also remembers the health problems of his brother Daniel, who had cancer.

 

Regarding school, Alain has excellent memories of Sainte-Marie in St. Chamond. He worked good. Alain was mainly impressed by his teacher for French language: "He was a master." - Alain and the other students had to play a piece of theatre: "Douze hommes en colère" by Reginald Rose. Alain had to fight his shyness. He played one of the most important roles in the theatre. He was the chosen one... Alain said later, that he learned a lot in that year. He even thought about becoming a comedian. For his whole life, Alain will love the theatre, mainly the comedy, the "boulevard". The French actor G. Depardieu, for example, is fascinating for Alain.

 

Alain's parents are working hard. Alain wrote in his book "Vive ma vie": "I still see my mother in the kitchen, cooking for us and at the same time working on a table as we were in delivery delay". Upto 25 people worked in his dad's furniture company.

 

During summer months, the Prost-family goes to the sunny Côte d'Azur in the south of France. They bought an apartment in Cannes in about 1959. Alain doesn't like the crowded beaches during summer season, although he likes to swim and to do water-skiing.

 

1970 - 1971

When Alain is 15, his mother decides to put him to secondary school. With his friends from college he often goes to the "café Continental". There, they play pinball, table football and they also play cards (Tarot and Belote). They do a lot of crazy things, but when Alain mounts on the table to perfectly imitate an over-excited chimpanzee, the whole group dies laughing.

 

Sometimes, Alain takes his antique scooter to visit a motor-cycle race on Nürburgring in Germany or to see a rally hold in the region.

 

In May 1970, Alain has his first contact with Formula 1. Alain's dad André makes the proposal to his sons to visit the Monaco Grand Prix... Alain's dad got some tickets for a good price. They are sitting on a small grandstand next to the chicane. The Formula 1 race takes part on 10th May 1970. Only 16 cars qualified for the race, Jackie Stewart on his March starts from pole position. Next to him in the first row of the grid is Chris Amon, also on March. Jackie Stewart has a good start and stays in the lead from first lap to lap 27, when he has to retire because of his engine. Jackie Stewart was 17 seconds in front of Chris Amon, who gets outbraked by Jack Brabham in the same lap. So, now Brabham is leading the race. But behind him, the Austrian Jochen Rindt, "the man without nose", as they called him, comes closer and closer and is able to overtake Brabham in the last lap, after Jack Brabham struck some straw bales and nearly touched a wall to avoid hitting the slow car of Piers Courage. So, it was quite an exciting race and Alain really enjoyed seeing the F1-race and the Formula 3 race as well...

 

But when Alain came back to Saint-Chamond, he forgot Formula 1 again, he was back at the loved soccer fields and at the gym. But he can't escape his destiny. During an exercise at the beam, he fell and got an arm in plaster. Of course, Alain hates that, as he just likes to be physically active. Anyway, being physically active with an arm in plaster is kind of difficult. The Prost family is spending their holidays in Cannes (Côte d'Azur/France) again - Alain has no idea, what he can do there with an arm in plaster, he is not somebody, who wants to lay on the beach all day long, he needs some activity...

 

To distract Alain, his older brother Daniel goes with him to a small amusement park... There is a big disco playing loudly at nights, trampolines, a nice water park, and last but not least a small karting track with some karts. The two boys go to the karting... But there they learn that they would have to be 16 years or older to hire one of the karts, so Alain is too young to do so... That's disappointing! Alain gets informed, that he just needs the signature of his parents... Soon, Alain and Daniel are back with the "official" paper in the hand... A friend from Saint-Chamond who accompanies them, drove some first laps in one of the karts... And of course, Alain really wants to try this, too. Although he has the arm in a sling... The owner of the track has to smile because of the restlessness of Alain and proposes a mini-competition. For the first time in his life, Alain Prost is sitting on a kart. He tries the steering and it is possible for him to move it with one hand. The kart is not really the best, it had been used for many hours, the engine is losing oil and is smoking blue and the steering doesn't work very well neither, the karts are not very fast, but it is amusing anyway... Alain loves to overtake the others and to drive round the track faster and faster... The time was really flying and, by the way, Alain won this small race... He really liked it!

 

Just a few days later, Alain has the desire to drive with this karts once again. He goes to the track again, this time alone. After some more laps, he knows for sure, that he wants to do this in future - he enjoyed it so much...

 

So he goes back to his parents and tells them he wants to have an own kart, but his parents tell him to forget this idea right away... No more discussion about it. The parents of Alain think, that it's absurd, but mainly karting was something for rich people only, especially back at that time... Anyway, Alain searches for a karting club in the region of Saint-Chamond as soon as he is back from the holidays and he finds a club in Rive-de-Gier, just some kilometres away from his home... In the late summer of 1970, although he has no kart, Alain is signing in as a member without any hesitating. But before he promised his parents that he will continue his studies. Then he contacts Patrice and Jacky Richard, two friends, who have a kart to sell. They tell Alain, that they would sell it to him for 700 French Francs, but Alain has not even one cent and his parents don't give him money for a kart. Anyway, he decides to buy the kart. To earn some money, he helps his dad working every evening after coming home from college. Alain makes everything he can to earn some extra money. He goes shopping for his mom, even if he just gets some cents for that. For a few French Francs, he does any job now. Alain puts aside the money he got from his grandma Victoria and Alain doesn't go to cinema anymore, so he saves 7 French Francs per film... When his dad asks him: "What do you want for Christmas, my son?", Alain replies: "Some money." And, thanks to the money he got for Christmas, after 1 ½ years of working and saving money, he has finally the 700 Francs he needs to buy his first kart with a Mercadier chassis and a McCulloch engine - and four worn down tyres... His parents are happy for Alain, but also angry. They say: "You made the mistake of your life, Alain! Actually, Alain paid too much for the old kart he got.

 

The first tests with the kart are disappointing. It's not a very big surprise as the material is worn-out, and Alain needs more time for repairing and working at the kart than driving. At least, Alain learns a lot about the mechanic of the kart, and he doesn't give up.

 

But Alain wants to drive races. So, he is soon signing up for a regional race held in Hauteville. As one of the Richard brothers is not there, he gets the chance to use one of their karts, which has more power than his own kart. The whole thing didn't start too good for Alain, he had several collisions during trainings, but fortunately, his kart did not get damaged. On race day, just three drivers are at the start in the "junior" category... And Alain takes the chance and wins the first race he has participated in with a "hired" kart. So Alain realises, that he needs a better kart to win races in the future...

 

1972 - 1973

In 1972, Alain decides to give up soccer and to concentrate more on karting. The 17 year old Alain has hurt one of his knees, which makes the decision much easier for him.

 

At the end of the year 1972, Alain sells his old Mercadier-McCulloch kart, as he wants to buy his dream kart with a French Vacquand chassis and an Italian Parilla engine. It's the most used chassis at that time and, very important, the engine, with which he should be able to win races. Guy Pelletier, the president of the karting club of Rive-de-Gier is supporting Alain, who decides to take part at more races now as he has the new kart. Alain even gives up his studies and doesn't want to become a sports instructor anymore: He failed a swimming test because of a cramp! Again, he helps his dad to earn some money and he also works on some engines for a few customers from the region...

 

But very soon, everybody realises, that Alain is good enough to take part in the national karting championship! Alain takes part at the French Senior Karting Championship race on the famous track in Thiverval (Yvelines/France). Alain has only the minimum material, but good hopes. His parents accompany him to the race, where only the best French kart drivers take part. Alain's dad assists while his mom watches the race and supports Alain, hoping that her Alain will have good results and – mainly – that he won't get hurt. Alain drives a great race, finishing on second place right behind a driver called Jean-Louis Bousquet, who will say later that "Alain was not someone who was hard during a race, that Alain was always correct and didn't take any big risks" and mainly that he was someone "who went fast naturally". Alain is happy with the second place. With some newly gained self-confidence, he writes himself in for the 1973 European Junior Karting Championship, which is held in Oldenzaal, in the north of Holland. Alain is not really well prepared for that race, which is also called "Junior Worldcup", but decides to drive regular laps without risking anything. He has the advantage to be one of the oldest drivers, as France allows drivers up to the age of eighteen years to take part in junior races, while in Britain, the age of juniors goes up to the age of sixteen. Alain even has a moustache and looked very old, which created rumours that Alain was married and had a child! – In the race, there are many turbulent fights and lots of collisions. Alain is able to get away without problems and wins all five runs, including the two final runs, which he wins decisively. Therefore, he is the new European Junior Karting Champion in 1973! On the podium, Alain was smiling wistfully. After this big success, the French decided to take Alain to their Senior team, because he was so quick. So, Alain goes to the Senior Karting Worldchampionship, which takes place on the Nivelles track, situated near Bruxelles (Belgium). Drivers of twenty countries take part. Alain has no idea what to expect there, he gets no help from anywhere... Alain doesn't have the best material, drives a good race in the middle of the field, but only finishes 14th. But his dad met another Frenchman in the pits: Michel Fabre, a member of the national team, who imports Italian karting material. Michel Fabre owns a small "Sovame" store in Aubervilliers, close to Paris. Alain's dad asks Fabre to let Alain test some karts and Michel Fabre agrees. Already one day later, Michel Fabre organised a small "private test" for Alain Prost. – Michel Fabre is very impressed by the driving style of Alain! Even with karts, that were not really set up, Alain drives very good times! But what impresses Fabre even more: After only a few laps, Alain is able to give more detailed information about the the kart and the engine than anybody else Fabre has ever seen!

 

Alain tests just everything: chassis made by Taifun, Tecno, Squale and even a Python chassis, which nobody wants because it is difficult to handle. But Alain realises soon that his smooth driving style is fitting wonderful to this chassis. At the same time, there are many different sorts of tyres to choose from and Alain tests them all until he finds the ideal combination. Michel Fabre can hardly believe his eyes and decides to support Alain. Fabre proposes to support Alain at the big races and offers Alain to do the official distribution for karting material, which is imported or produced by Sovame for the region where Alain lives. Michel Fabre also introduces Alain to Jannick Auxemery, a driver who stopped racing. Auxemery becomes a supporter and kind manager for Alain, Auxemery is also a strong teacher. But there are more people who discovered the young Frenchman in the meantime: An Italian constructor contacts Alain while he is working in his small Sovame karting shop in Saint-Chamond. The constructor offers him to be their official driver with a monthly salary of 2000 French Francs and a place in the BM junior team. It's a very good offer for the young Alain, but he refuses to drive for the Italians. He doesn't want to leave Michel Fabre like that after all. Alain is too honest to do such a thing... So, Alain continues to drive for Michel Fabre.

 

Can find his racing history here...

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/prost_bio.htm

Edited May 31, 2004 by Vigil

[gamavor]

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/images/prost15.jpg

 

Whoa! He cannot fool anybody with this piece of art, streaching from his forehead to his lips!!!