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Getting to know Mathieu Jaminet
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7 Mins
Ahead of the final two IMSA rounds of the 2024 season, Mathieu Jaminet talks NASCAR, French gastronomy and his recent relocation to a new country.
Fans might know
They might be familiar with his success in GT racing, with wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Dubai 24 Hours under his belt, along with podiums at the Bathurst 12 Hours and the 24 Hours of Spa.
But what about his passion for French gastronomy, his recent move to Andorra and his love for MotoGP and NASCAR? We got to know Jaminet a bit better ahead of this weekend’s IMSA Battle on the Bricks at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Growing up in France - and a recent move
Jaminet grew up in Hayange in north east France, just 25km from the border with Luxembourg. Born to an Italian mother and a French father, he had family in both countries, embracing both cultures - especially their food - before moving to nearby Luxembourg as he got older.
It was in France where he began his foray into racing - initially in motocross, before switching to go-karting to pursue his single-seater career because his mother was “against it.”
He remained living nearby until recently, choosing to move to Andorra in search of a sunnier climate. Despite his love of the sun, Jaminet is also a keen skier, and is excited to hit the slopes of the Central Pyrenees come winter.
“I was looking for a place with more sun, so I had to go a little bit away from my family, which is never really nice,” Jaminet says. “Just moved into Andorra, a completely new place, new country, different language as well because Luxembourg was speaking French and it was like my home.
“A really new start to life, going with my girlfriend to a completely different area with no one around us, so let’s see how we go there. I’m excited - so far it’s been good, the weather has been really nice this summer so I know why I moved.
“It’s 30 degrees every day, in the mountains, it’s beautiful. Now my parents have to come and visit and my sister and my nephew - I miss them a bit but see how I go.”
Broader interests
Other prominent residents of the small country, situated on the French-Spanish border, are a plethora of MotoGP riders, including 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo and Aprilia stalwart Aleix Espargaro - especially convenient given Jaminet’s passion for motorcycle racing.
On the day of this interview, Jaminet was up early to watch practice for the Aragon Grand Prix, and says it is the series he follows the most, alongside NASCAR, outside of sportscar racing. But who is his favourite rider?
“Honestly, I don’t really have any because I just respect all of them,” he says. “I don’t really know any of them really personally or really close. So I don’t have any favourite, just respect - when you see Marc Marquez riding a bike, it’s just super impressive.
“I like Johann Zarco and Quartararo, they’re both French and we have a lot of press and interviews about them.”
Despite his passion for two-wheeled racing, Jaminet isn’t sure he would make that switch - “I don’t want to hurt myself!” - but another championship has piqued his interest, and it’s one he is well placed to try out: NASCAR.
Roger Penske’s eponymous team in the Cup Series has scored four drivers’ titles, five Xfinity Series Owners’ championships, and 214 victories since its inception in 1966, with Ryan Blaney currently leading this year’s drivers’ standings for Team Penske.
Jaminet says it would be “a dream” to be a NASCAR driver, and he has joked with The Captain about trying the series out.
“I’ve quickly talked about it with Roger a few times and bring some hint, like ‘hey, look, can we do a day where maybe we exchange cars - a NASCAR driver gets to try a prototype, we get to drive a NASCAR’ and try to do something.
“It never really came up so far but you never know. If we win the championship or we have a really good season then maybe it could be a nice present, a nice reward to try the NASCAR one day and get the chance. Who knows, we have to still negotiate with Roger. It’d be nice.”
Aside from his NASCAR aspirations, Jaminet has other goals in mind once he moves on from motorsport involving his other great passion- food.
“I’d like to start a small business on the side and have a restaurant, maybe a burger shop and maybe a few,” he says. “I like to be with people around me, I like to enjoy with people so that’s something really I’d like to do is have a nice place where people come and enjoy.
“I really enjoy food, this is my biggest passion I think in life. I like to cook and do all of this stuff. I like everything - as long as it’s well made, I’m not so picky. I think for me, French gastronomy is the best. The easiest food is Italian and this is what I’ve eaten all my life with my mum, but for sure French food is my favourite.”
He added: “The first thing I do when I go home is go to a restaurant, have some good food, go have some drinks with good mates around and everything is good then. I’m relaxed, sometimes in the car I’m pretty excited but in life I’m relaxed. I don’t take things really seriously or anything.”
Present day endeavours
This year, Jaminet has been driving the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car in IMSA, alongside teammate Nick Tandy.
He also took part in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in the third Porsche 963, alongside Tandy and #7 Porsche driver Felipe Nasr, and says it was “amazing” to race at home again, despite a difficult race.
“Outside the track, being at home at a French event - the biggest event in the world - this was amazing,” Jaminet says. “To see the French crowd again was really good. You feel like Lewis Hamilton for a week, you cannot really go out anywhere because the people jump on you so it’s always a nice feeling.
“It’s just one week in the year, if it was always like this it would be tough but it’s just one week and it’s nice to have so much support and race at home. And have my family as well, they don’t travel to the US, I’m always by myself, so having everyone around me was really nice. Unfortunately, the race didn’t go as planned, so that was tough.”
Stateside, Jaminet and Tandy are currently second in the IMSA drivers’ standings, behind #7 Porsche duo Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr.
Though Jaminet says it “could have gone better” for the duo, he is optimistic of the chances for Porsche to claim both titles.
“We have had some issues here and there, some bad luck,” he says. “We’re still running second in the championship - we’ve won two races and had a couple of podiums - and car #7 is leading,
“Porsche is leading all championships with two rounds to go, so we have to be confident that we’re going to keep it that way until the end.
“We have both cars to help each other, to protect each other as well, so there’s no reason we should not keep these positions until the end and try to win all the championships. If we can do a 1-2 in the championship that would be amazing. We could take it all, so that would be nice.”
With just two rounds remaining, the Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA team fights full steam ahead for both titles. This weekend, the penultimate round takes place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, before the final showdown at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans on October 12.