Over the years, they have appeared in today's world of MotoGP. “They” are Helpers, or “personal assistant” in French.
The most famous is undoubtedly Uccio, the childhood friend of Valentino Rossi, but today, there are hardly any MotoGP riders who are not permanently accompanied by these right-hand men.
This is also the case for fabio quartararo and, in order to find out more about this seemingly indispensable function, we asked a few questions to Tom Maubant, the one who now accompanies the French pilot on all his trips.
Tom, the general public only sees the Helper when he brings his gloves and helmet to the pilot. This is obviously very simplistic, so can you explain to us what your job involves, and therefore why the pilot needs you?
Tom : “Obviously, we're not just here to bring the helmet and gloves, as we can see on TV. That's only a minute in our day. Our job is mainly during training and everything that has to be managed during a race weekend. For example, after each session we bring helmets, visors, leathers, airbags for the services concerned, and more generally, we are there so that the rider can concentrate solely on the bike. We are there so that it does not disperse with all the surroundings. I am in constant contact with the team press officer to manage Fabio's schedule. He doesn't even know what appointments he has, nor when, nor where: it's me who informs him. I'm a sort of intermediary between Fabio and everyone else, whether it's the team or all the people who need him."
Do you have a little anecdote about his equipment?
“I know him by heart, so I do the best I can according to his tastes. For example, I know that Fabio doesn't really like changing gloves. He likes to have worn gloves. So I try to alternate between new gloves and used gloves so that he feels good and doesn’t get blisters.”
You are with him all the time, so your role is not limited to the equipment. Is the friend and confidant side also important?
“Yes, especially since for me, it came naturally. It wasn't my job but I was simply one of Fabio's best friends. The psychological side is not always easy because there were difficult periods, especially in Moto3 at the beginning when he was injured. Many people then denigrated him and it was difficult to live with. At these times, we needed to disconnect at the end of the day and stop talking about motorcycles. Today, things are much better, but when I see that he gets a little too excited during a session, I try to calm him down. I know him, so I know when he's upset or something's wrong. So I try to be positive. I also try to answer all his questions. For example, he can ask me to go check if there is a little humidity left in a particular corner. But often, in the evening, we try to talk about something else, things in life. I think it does him good and I think that's why today everyone is accompanied by a close person. It's a kind of shoulder to lean on when there are downs but also to share joy when there are ups. Pilots know who to count on, and this is increasingly important. We have been doing it since 2016, when he was in Moto3, and it probably helped him, otherwise he would have stopped a long time ago (laughs).”
Does your role extend to piloting level?
" No. This is very specific and not my job. On the other hand, he can ask me to go to this or that corner to film so that he can analyze his driving and that of others in the evening. For the actual driving, there is someone in the team, a former pilot, whose role is that”.
Currently, is this a full-time job?
“Yes, whether on the circuits, or at home when he goes to train.”
We imagine that it is the driver who pays his Helper, and not the team…
" Exactly. My boss is Fabio! »
Do you like this job?
" Yes really ! Especially since we have always been very close with Fabio, so now we travel together and we have a great adventure. It's like a waking dream! We had complicated periods and it was therefore important to put things into perspective, so as not to see everything in darkness. But today, things are better, so I obviously have less work mentally.”
When he got his first victory last year, we saw him vent all the accumulated tensions. As you are obviously extremely close to him, did you cry?
“It’s true that it moved me because it’s something we’ve been waiting for for a long time. Well, I knew he could do that for a long time. But it was something we had lost. Not the driving, that he never lost, but there were lots of little things which meant that the results did not arrive. I always told him “keep going, keep going, one day it will pay off!” Do not give up ! ". And when he won, yes, it was a huge relief. We thought about what all his loved ones had done for him, his family, Eric Mahé, to make it work. And it worked. It was joy and the feeling of having done things well, of having worked well. I didn’t cry, but I was proud of what he had done.”
