Alphonse Fabron

Alphonse Fabron (b. 20th November 1939 in Faux-Mazuras, Creuse, France) is a retired French politician, racing driver and later team manager.

Early life and political career

Alphonse Fabron, mid-1980s.

Alphonse Fabron was born and raised in the small farming village of Faux-Mazuras. As their home village was far from major cities, the war years were relatively peaceful for his family. At the age of 12, Fabron started showing an interest in politics and was quickly radicalised into supporting the Socialists by one of his teachers. When he turned 18, he joined the party and quickly became known for his charismatic speeches which attracted large crowds. After finishing a degree in economics, he started to fully concentrate on his political career. With his youth and good speech skills he was soon on the local council, and in 1967 made it on to the Creuse department council. He retained his position in the 1970 and 1973 elections, but by 1976 he was considered too old by many young people and many of his statemements had alienated older voters. Additionally, Fabron himself had started to become disillusioned by socialist policies and was seen more and more often in the company of influential businessmen. The rumours surrounding his personal life also damaged his reputation. After losing his departmental seat in 1976, he then lost his municipal seat in the 1977 elections. By then he decided to exit politics for good and soon got involved in lucrative cigarette business, using his degree in economics and political connections to eventually advance into a high-ranking position.

Motorsports career

Alphonse Fabron first became interested in motorsports in the late 60s, after monitoring a local rallying event as part of his council work. He soon started doing local club races in a used Renault R8 Gordini, but was usually among the last finishers. In 1975 he was offered a good deal on a used R12 Gordini, and through his political connections he was able to secure an invitation at a national-level race at the Albi Circuit. However, his weekend ended early after he totaled the car in the first practice session. He sustained severe leg injuries in the crash, which further hampered his ability to campaign for the 1976 elections.

Dywa GP

In early 1978, Fabron was suddenly contacted by Latin Auto Technology Enterprises to drive their second car in the new Dywa GP Series. As it tuns out, LATE needed Fabron's connections not only for attracting sponsorship, but also for the scheming of their backers.

Management career

After his Dywa GP career was over, Fabron maintained an interest in motorsport and soon formed a karting team called AFMS to support the career of his niece Sophie and later his nephew Sylvain. This team would eventually evolve into Ecurie Fabron.

Personal life

Alphonse Fabron has never been married nor does he have any known children. During the 1970s his notable lack of a female companion led to some tabloids to start rumours contemplating that he is possibly gay. However, at the time Fabron denied these rumours simply by stating that he is "married to his work". The rumours continued to exist throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but Fabron repeatedly denied them as "nonsense".

In 2011, after retiring from being the head of Ecurie Fabron, Alphonse Fabron finally came out as gay in a Paris Match interview.