The European season is over in this year’s World Rally Championship, and with it ends an equally epic journey.
A voyage of over 50,000 kilometers (or more than 31,000 miles) spanning 150 days snapping the world’s greatest drivers in all climates from all angles – and all while driving (and sleeping in) a humble Citroën C1.
Rallying is all about pushing the limits and embracing the unknown, and nobody exemplifies that better than Damien Patoux.
Like many of us, he was introduced to rallying thanks to his father, who took him to see the Monte Carlo Rally aged 10. That sparked a desire within him, so when he was old enough to drive Damien was Sanremo-bound in a bid to sample more.
“Naturally, I wanted to imitate all these great pilots that I admired sliding around!” Damien tells DirtFish.
“Then I started competing in slaloms where my results lived up to expectations and then I was lucky enough to compete in three small rallies, finishing all three with also satisfactory results.
“My last event to date was in 2020.”
Patoux has driven his C1 to some of rallying's most famous locations
And with that we’re really only scratching the surface. Damien reveals he also assisted in closing roads for tests when WRC teams visited the hills above Monaco “which allowed me to experience some incredible moments”.
You’re not kidding!
But what about the photography and this epic journey in 2024, that’s seen him average 333 kilometers (207 miles) a day? Why has Damien taken on such a challenge?
“I’ve always done photography since I was very young, but it wasn’t until 2013 that I got my first real camera,” Damien says.
“After researching how best to earn a living close to the WRC, I decided to follow the path of photography.
“So I trained myself by going to all the rallies in my region to learn the trade and then by going to as many WRC rallies as possible.
“This is why I took up the challenge this year of covering as many WRC events as possible and, with luck, I managed to be present at all of them in Europe in 2024, which will remain an exceptional year in my eyes.”
That means Damien and his little Citroën have traversed the Alpine roads around Monte Carlo he calls home, to the frozen forests of Sweden, sweltering rock-strewn roads of Sardinia and Greece, and tricky Tarmac of Croatia and Central Europe, along with the flat-out forests of Poland, Latvia and Finland.
“I did all that with this incredible little C1,” Damien adds, “which served me as a reconnaissance car for special stages on dirt and elsewhere, as well as a real campervan.
“I do have a few anecdotes,” he laughs, “like being woken up by a Latvian policeman one morning because I had forgotten to lock my doors and he wanted to know if everything was OK for me.
“Or crossing a shanty town in Albania because of my GPS, one of the rare moments when I admit I didn’t feel completely safe. But overall everything went very well.
“Apart from changing a few worn parts like the brake pads – nothing surprising given the road conditions – and I only had two punctures.”
This is another thing that links Damien to Sébastien Ogier as well as the corner of the globe he hails from.
Patoux sustained only two punctures - fewer than many WRC drivers suffer in a year
He continues: “The first was in the powerstage in Sardinia where even Ogier had a puncture, and the second was in Greece where I was perhaps also a little too generous in my driving…”
Damien pinpoints Greece and Sweden as his toughest events because of the rough roads of the Acropolis and the challenge of driving in the snow without studded tires on his little supermini.
But he has taken it all in his stride and created a simply legendary tale.
For Damien, if he can’t be driving he wants to be shooting, and those he’s looking at through his lense are his heroes. But in completing such a massive challenge, he’s become a hero in his own right.
“I don’t know what 2025 will bring for me,” he concludes, “but one thing is certain: the season will start with the Monte Carlo Rally!”
