Onboard camera in karting with Julien

Good evening everyone,

As promised in my last post, I recently took part to a new practice session in go-kart, with a gearbox equipped 125cc.

I went to the track of La Manga, close to Cartagena, with Germán Sánchez and Juan Gomez. This track is short but nevertheless fast, and we have been able to test new settings.

At the end of the day, we tried a new set of tires and I took the opportunity to record one lap with the onboard camera.

You can watch this video above.

Best regards,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary | Comments

Training in go-kart

Dear visitors,

I have recently been able to practice go-kart again. Associated to my good friend and ex-fellow racer at Palmer Sport, the 2008 Spanish F3 champion Germán Sánchez, I managed to cover a couple of sessions at the Orihuela Costa track, near Cartagena.

After a few laps, Germán and I eventually felt the competition spirit growing back despite not being recently racing professionally. After having been able to get close to the 44s81 lap-record, we have eventually beaten it. The funny part of this session was the perseverance of both of us : as one was beating the record, the other one was climbing into the go-kart to improve a few thousandth of a second.

We eventually improved the lap record of almost half a second.

We are currently planning to organize a practice session on another track of the region. This session should allow us to test different settings, and you can be sure we will both push the machine to its limits.

Take good care of yourselves,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary | Comments

Coaching at Jarama

Dear visitors,

It has been a while since the last time I wrote a blog post. The reasons are multiple. Life is really busy these days with the research of sponsors, the management of different partners, the chronicles for DZautos.com and my work as a driving coach.

Two weeks ago, I have been asked again to drive to Jarama in order to do coaching for the Spanish driving school DRIVEX. DRIVEX is the leader of driving schools in Spain : they propose different kind of programs, from driving a Ferrari F430 to testing a real Formula 3. Clients can also choose to have a ride in a Formula 3 two-seaters driven by a professional driver.

My work is quite simple. I take in my car three “students” for a few laps around the track : explaining the braking points, the weight transfer, the good lines to use. I also try to explain them where they have to look while they drive, and the good way to hold the steering wheel. Of course, they previously participated to a theoretical and safety course, but it is good to remind these basics.

Then, we switch seats and each student drive the car around the track. As a usual driving instructor, I give my recommendations, advices and live comments from the passenger seat. I am sometimes surprised by the way students listen to what I say, and actually manage to apply it immediately. They get really focused when they realize they can handle the car safely, taking the good lines and braking at the correct point. They start “feeling” the car and can increase safely their rhythm lap after lap. Hopefully everything ends up with them being happy and excited about the experience : having learnt (quickly) how to properly drive on a racetrack. Later, they drive a real GT car – a Ferrari or a Porsche – in order to have stronger sensations.

In the meanwhile, some other activities are organized. That way, I also coached at the Mickey Mouse track sessions, where the students try to score the fastest lap of a track designed with cones. Some of you might have seen an onboard video of these sessions if you are among my Facebook friends.

If you are interested by the experience and want to join us, you can check our annual calendar on www.drivex.net.

I also want to thank Martiño de Lopo, from www.curuxarallye.info, for the great pictures he kindly took for me !

Take good care of yourself,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary, Motorsport information | Comments

“I won’t give up…”

During an interview made by the French website F1-Direct.com, Julien expressed himself about his actuality and the new rules in Formula 1.

1. Two months have passed since our last interview, how are you doing ?
Julien Gerbi : I am fine, thanks. I actively work on my return on the grids and also give some coaching lessons on the track of Jarama in Spain. I am currently very active in the development of the Spanish sim racing industry, with the website www.rfactornews.com, and I am also doing some import/export deals. But I really miss the competition.

2. Are you racing so far this season ? What are your aims ?
Julien Gerbi : I still aim to be back in open-wheels series as soon as possible, in order to finish my formation. Otherwise, I still have offers to race in GT and touring cars, which would eventually be an interesting opportunity. But the problem remains the financial part.

3. The Formula 1 season fired up. What is your opinion about the 2011 season ?
Julien Gerbi : I think it will be really interesting. Pirelli has brought this notion of incertitude, and this is what Formula 1 needed. A lot of people criticize the fact there are not many overtaking in F1, but I think it is a wrong problem. If you look back at some races from the 70′s or the 80′s, you won’t see many more overtaking manoeuvres. But the incertitude which were resulting from the cars’ lack of reliability, or the drivers’ bad physical conditions, were making the races more exciting and uncertain. How many times a driver won a race in the last lap ? Ask to Jacques Laffite ! Nowadays, thanks to the DRS and the difficult management of the Pirelli tires, this incertitude is back. I just hope Pirelli will offer a greater difference in the performance/durability ratio between the two specifications of tires.

4. What about your Formula 1 projects ?
Julien Gerbi : The problem remains the same to me. If you are not from a rich family, it is difficult to climb the last stairs. It is a bit like when you are testing a new car : it is not a problem to find the first tenths of a second, but the last tenths are more problematics. But I keep faith and work each day God makes in order to find a solution. I won’t give up…

5. What do you think about the new technical specifications of the Formula 1 cars ? As a driver, do you think the steering wheel became too complicated for the F1 drivers ?
Julien Gerbi : It is difficult to judge it without having tried. A lot of drivers complained about the fact the steering wheel has become too complicated. But is that a real issue ? I remembered having seen an onboard camera a few years ago showing Sato holding his steering wheel with only one hand in the Indianapolis banking, while driving at over 300km/h. And it didn’t seem to be a problem to him. And how many accidents were caused by the use of the F-Duct last year ? I think the actual F1 cars are really stable, in curves and at the braking, and the fact of having to activate the KERS and the DRS shouldn’t be such a problem. And if so, it will help to advantage the more skilled drivers. Anyway, the second biggest talent of racing driver is to complain…

6. A last word for the supporters and fans ?
Julien Gerbi : I thank all the persons who support me and who write me regularly. I hope to be able to reward them for their support soon.

Visit F1-Direct.com for more information.

Category: Media | Comments

Journey in Paris

Good afternoon,

A few days ago and after we published the photoshooting done by the Mexican photographer Roxana González, I had the opportunity to discuss with the journalist and presentator Jean-Marc Morandini. Morandini is very famous in France for being one of the top TV and Radio presentators in shows about the actuality of the media. Those discussions were soon followed by a meeting with him in the city of Paris.

Even though I am not a big fan of the French capital, I took great pleasure to travel there in order to meet Jean-Marc in the offices of the radio Europe 1. Between my departure from Alicante, Spain and my meeting scheduled at 11.am, I took the opportunity to walk around the Champs-Elysées, much more quiet and pleasant than usual. Then I went to Europe 1 in order to assist to the radio show “Le Grand Direct des Médias”, in which the principal guest was the actor Victor Lanoux.

Europe 1′s offices reminded me a bit of a paddock during an important competition. You can meet a lot of famous people in their professional environment. I had the opportunity to meet some of the television most famous figure, such as Michel Drucker or Laurent Ruquier, with whom I could chat a bit.

This journey has been amazing, and it has been with sadness I had to refuse assisting to the TV show “Morandini!” on Direct 8, co-animated by Cécile de Ménibus, before leaving to the airport (where I crossed Eddy Mitchell… Famous people day !).

Some projects with Jean-Marc are currently on the table, and I sincerely hope to be able to collaborate with him in a close future.

I will keep you informed !

Take good care of yourselves,

Julien Gerbi

Category: Juliens diary | Comments

The helmet takes it all

Good evening !

It is in the early 60′s that some racing drivers started to paint their helmets.

Before, the helmets were sold with a basic paint work of a single color, and the drivers were recognized through their clothes, haircuts and glasses. But when racing cars started to modernize, the drivers came to be more hidden inside of their cockpits, and they started to need another way to be recognized from far.

One of the first driver to paint his helmet was the Frenchman Jean Behra, who decided to design a checkered flag. Then, people like François Cevert and Emerson Fittipaldi incorporated some more advanced design.

Today, the helmet is the only part of the driver the public can actually see. So the design is really important in order to do not be confused with any other driver.

From my side, my helmet design has slightly changed since the beginning of my career. In 2004, I was using a Bell helmet, with my basic colors of yellow and blue. I chose those colors because of my godfather Roberto Moreno, whose helmet was one of the most beautiful and recognizable in the F1 field. The yellow and blue were also Ayrton Senna’s colors, and Senna’s helmet was famous for being simple and memorizable. I spent most of my childhood playing to draw F1 driver’s helmets, and when it came up to design mine, I used all the designs I remembered in order to get something nice enough and easy to draw !

My first design was more “round” than today. The blue arrow was coordinated with the shape of the Bell helmet, and both darts were meeting on the top of the visor. It looked quite good at that time and I have used this painting during the 2004 season in Sport Prototypes. Between 2004 and 2006, I slightly changed the design in order to incorporate different styles of blue. But eventually, I have never been fully satisfied with it and I was looking for something more aggressive.

In 2006, I decided to change my helmet brand to Arai. I opted for the famous GP5, partly made in carbon-fiber. The top wing on this helmet allowed me to adopt a design closer to what I was looking for. A more aggressive design was possible, so I first decided to design a blue J on the sides of the helmet, and to put a laurel wreath on the back of it. The painting was looking ok, but there was definitely too much yellow and not enough blue, so at high speed the design was very difficult to see… Even on the pictures on track, we could barely see the details of the design. At the end, something was missing.

Later during my 2006 Formula 3 season, I came up with the idea of designing two blue thunders on the sides, completed by a reversed snake teeth on top. The blue parts would be surrounded by a very light chrome line. I immediately liked this design (which you can see in the top picture of the article) and asked to my painter, Chris Deco, to give a try on the Arai. It looked really attractive, and I decided to keep it.

I now have this design since 2006 and I believe it is quite unique. The space for the sponsors are good, and it looks really nice inside of any car ! So next time you will watch one of my race, you will be able to recognize me quicker !

Cheers,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary | Comments

Shooting by Roxana González

Good evening everyone !

Today is my first blog post for the new website. This week, I had the chance to meet the Mexican photographer Roxana González, who kindly proposed me to organize a photo shooting.

Roxana is a 27 year-old photographer from Leon who has already built her fame in her native Mexico through taking pictures which have been published in different big magazines. She has recently received a prize from the Comunidad Valenciana for a picture about human poverty.

For the session, we walked the streets of Alicante taking some shots, which has been a great moment. You feel like a model with those people looking at you and stopping by for watching ! At the end, we are both really happy with the result… Be the judge !

For more information about Roxana González, please visit her web page.

Category: Juliens diary | Comments

Podcast of my latest radio interview

Good afternoon,

You are now able to listen to my interview for BeurFM’s show “Fou de Sport” by downloading our podcast on this link.

Hope you will like it !

Regards,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary, Media | Comments

Article in the Algerian press

Good evening,

Today, an interview made by Mohamed Bouguerra has been published in the Algerian newspaper “Le Temps d’Algérie”.

The interview spoke about my career and the difficulties of being a racing driver nowadays.

Hope you will like it !

Cheers,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary, Media | Comments

Thanks to Drivex and RFN, one lucky guy !

Good evening.

Thanks to the collaboration between Drivex and rFactorNews.com, I recently had the chance to draw the lucky winner of a driving stage, on the track of Jarama in Spain !

In order to participate to the draw, you had to answer to an easy question regarding my career : What was my car number during my 2009 Formula Palmer Audi season ? The answer was the number 14 !

The winner, nicknamed Kara, already choose the race car he will drive on the 15th of December in Jarama : the Ferrari F430 !

You can watch the video of the draw, as well as the winner’s reaction on live…and in Spanish…

Thanks again to Drivex for this beautiful prize, congratulations to the lucky winner and let’s hope he will do great and will have lot of fun during this experience.

Cheers,

Julien

Category: Juliens diary | Comments