At home with the Delecours

Former WRC driver François Delecour is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, he's in a perpetual busy state, as Anthony Peacock discovers when he visits the family retreat in the south of France

- Anthony Peacock

It says a lot about the no-holds-barred François Delecour that even Colin McRae once described him as “probably the craziest guy I know” (Delecour's longtime Peugeot teammate Gilles Panizzi was described as the “second-craziest”).

And before Sébastien Loeb came along, Delecour was the brightest star in the French rallying firmament. François burst onto the international scene in 1991 by nearly winning on his WRC debut in a four-wheel-drive car, which was also his first appearance for Ford on the Monte Carlo Rally.

This relatively unknown 28-year-old with the intense look in his eyes had the temerity to take the lead from reigning world champion Carlos Sainz on the penultimate day and was on course for a history-writing victory until his Sierra Cosworth’s left-rear suspension failed on the final run through the Col de Turini, costing the Frenchman 6min.

That emotional roller-coaster firmly set the scene for the rest of his factory WRC career, which took in 12 seasons and several stints with Peugeot and Ford, as well as Mitsubishi for two years. He could - probably should - have been world champion in 1993, the season in which he claimed three of his four career WRC wins, but injuries from a road accident in a Ferrari F40 put him on the sidelines for four months. He still managed to finish second at the end of that year.

Delecour’s final WRC factory drive was a comeback on the 2012 Monte (after a 10-year break) where he signed off with a fine sixth place, but once the tyre screaming stops, what does a retired rally driver actually do? Particularly one as notoriously hyperactive as François Delecour.