YVAN MULLER I THOUGHT RACING IN THE UK WAS THE PINNACLE
There was a 10-year spell between 2007 and 2016 where Yvan Muller didn’t finish outside the top three in the chase for the World Touring Car Championship. In that period, he won four titles and claimed 47 race victories.
The man fromAlsace is the king of tin-top racing, but it was something the British fans already knew.An eight-year stint in the British Touring Car Championship, seven of them with Vauxhall, and the title in 2003, meant he’d already laid down his credentials in a saloon car.
Muller turned 51 last year, but he had no time to celebrate as he was in the middle of a campaign in the World TCR series, which ultimately brought him to second in the points, one place behind his protege and nephew Yann Ehrlacher.
There have been thoughts of retirement – indeed, he has previously announced that he was stepping down from driving before being tempted back. Motorsport is a passion Muller simply can’t leave alone and he is a driver who is always looking for a challenge.
Take, for example, his exploits on the Dakar Rally or even in the World Rally Championship. There is nothing he won’t turn his hand to.
We set him a new challenge this week: to tackle the Motorsport News readers’ questions.As you can see from his answers, his is a career that would be the envy of most other drivers.
Question: Where did your passion from motorsport come from: your sister Cathy raced too, so was it in the family?
John Charles Via email
“It came from my father, because he was a hillclimb racer in the 1970s. He was purely an amateur. My older sister, Cathy, she was always with my father. One day when we were on holiday, father asked if she would like to have a go at some rental karting that was there, and she did. I couldn’t take part because I was seven years younger than her, so I was too small. Then, on the way back from holiday, my father stopped off somewhere and we bought a kart for Cathy, but it was just for fun, really. Then one of the guys at the track saw her and told us we should get her a licence and take part in some proper organised races. She did that and she had good
