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Patrick BERNARDINI
It is no longer necessary to present SIMRACING, which has become part of the preparation of racing drivers. With the advent of E-SPORTS, many simracers have moved from the console to the wheel, some at high level. The COVID 19 pandemic has allowed this sport to be highlighted, with the organization of virtual F1 championships, Indycar and the 24 Hours of Le Mans followed by 36 million viewers around the world.
In all these competitions, the simracers were able to face professional drivers or team up with them. The ARPIEM SIMRACING TEAM was created at the instigation of Aurélien Hamart and of the French-speaking league "Old Driver Spirit" (www.old-driver-spirit.fr) to participate in these competitions with striking graphic realism, which mix enlightened amateurs and professionals.
Eric HELARY
As small in size as he is large in talent (I hope he will forgive me, even if this characteristic is not a handicap when you are a single-seater driver), Eric will have had a very rich career even if the circumstances will not take him to F1 as his trajectory suggested. Indeed, he built up a track record and climbed the ranks in single-seater racing, becoming French Formula Ford and then F3 Champion, but he ended up “stuck” in F3000 due to not having the right team or the right environment at the right time…
Eric bounced back very quickly, winning the 1993 24 hours of Le Mans with Peugeot and the 905. He then turned to touring car racing, competing in the French Championship and then the very competitive German DTM. To our greatest happiness, Eric still has the bug, and he is successfully getting more and more involved in historic competitions, most of the time driving sports prototypes from the 60s and 70s, which require a bit of skill to be carried out at good speed. And since we're talking about Eric, it's always for the win!
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Jean Pierre JARIER
Jean Pierre Jarier's beginnings in motorsport are nothing but courage and tenacity: he does not belong to any sector of the time, which were then the oil companies' programs (Elf, Shell, BP, UFP, Motul, etc.), and the “helping hands” from which he will benefit will come from his… mother and Jean Pierre Beltoise. This did not prevent him from progressing and masterfully winning the F2 European Championship in 1973. This year was also that of his real debut in F1.
Jean Pierre will be considered during this period among the fastest drivers in the world, the equal of Ronnie Peterson or Jody Scheckter. His track record, due to lack of opportunities to ride in the best teams, does not illustrate this. His longevity, however, testifies to the respect he had, since he competed in no less than 134 GPs, signing 3 podiums and 3 pole positions. Today he retains no bitterness, and is more accustomed to saying: “I have so many memories, I have experienced so much, and then… I am alive…”
How to remain the most popular French driver, almost 40 years after competing in his last Formula 1 GP? It's simple, you just have to be called Jacques Laffite: start in single-seaters at the age of 26, an age where today the doors to F1 close if you tried to access it, be a contender serious for 3 seasons for the world title (79, 80 and 81 where he finished in 4th place each time), won 6 GPs and continued to race 15 years after leaving F1.
But above all, never depart from his true nature, a profound kindness (who may have played tricks on him?), an ability to embrace all the pleasures of life, a simplicity which makes anyone who meets him immediately feel at home. comfortable with him. It’s simple: we would all have liked to have Jacques as a brother-in-law!
Jacques LAFFITE
OUR WATCHES
Arpiem is a matter of passion, therefore an adventure where humans are omnipresent.
How can we not include these drivers whose track record we admire but who above all have distinguished themselves by exceptional human qualities... qualities that are so important to us because without them, these cars that make us dream would only be an assembly of metal and plastic.
We are proud to have received the agreement of these pilots to partner with Arpiem and the passion that the brand represents.