Philippe Graton’s very special day

Phiippe Graton could not imagine that his visit to the WTCC event in Portugal might culminate in him being called onto the podium to collect the winning Manufacturer’s trophy.

And yet, this is how it all ended up after Alain Menu, alias Michel Valliant, won the second race at Portimão at the wheel of his Chevrolet Cruze disguised as a Vaillante Gil.

After the podium ceremony the son of Jean Graton, the creator of the fictional racing driver, was soaked with champagne and clearly excited.

“There must be something magic in Michel Vaillant, because a story like this you can only imagine it could happen when you write the script for a comic book!” he said.

“What has happened here was very special. It is a very beautiful story, that goes beyond the race victory. We know that Alain was a fan of Michel Vaillant; when he was young he read his adventures over and over again, and even made drawings from them. Maybe the author and the character gave a contribution to form him and to address him to become a racing driver. Today Alain has given it back, to the author and to all the readers of Michel Vaillant.”