Director Louis-Pascal Couvelaire (1954)

For decades, Vaillante, run by the Vaillant family, has had a long history of success in various motor racing disciplines. Their most famous driver is Michel Vaillant, son of the team’s founder and owner, Henri, and younger brother of the team’s manager, Jean-Pierre. One night, Michel’s mother Élisabeth has a nightmare of her son’s death in an accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans involving a car bearing the number 13 operated by Leader, a team with which Vaillante had a historic rivalry for more than a quarter of a century. Henri comforts her, assuring that the Vaillante team is not planning to race at Le Mans, that Leader has quit racing for 5 years, and that ...