Jean-Marc Belotti knows how to make himself heard.
An engine between the legs it helps to make noise, it is besides what one reproaches him.
To him and his comrades in motorized two-wheelers mobilized since the town hall of Paris seriously plans to make them pay the tithing of parking in the same way as cars.
Last December, they were up to 1,500 every day for a week to roar their machines under the windows of Anne Hidalgo.
Their next demonstration is scheduled for February 6.
"Today, you have to be stupid not to be green
At the head of the peloton, the coordinator of the federation of angry bikers of Paris and its inner circle leads the protest by borrowing their arguments from his detractors: "One more motorcyclist is one less car in Paris".
Except that if David Belliard, EELV deputy in charge of mobility decided to open the case of paid parking, beyond making the space public to pedestrians and cyclists, it is also good, in the name of the fight against pollution.
Prohibition to circulate on motorbike between two lines of cars: "I would be surprised if they were to verbalize"
Admittedly, "today, you have to be stupid not to be green," concedes a Jean-Marc Belotti who is much more open and open than the overly caricatured figure of the angry biker predicted.
To go beyond words, he also had a passive house built in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis).
“There are still many other things to tackle before preventing people from moving, and particularly suburbanites who do not have, like in Paris, the transport infrastructure adapted to go to work.
It is they, the poorest, that we put in the muck, ”he continues the contradictory.
The freedom to think and move as a standard
We come there.
If there is one common denominator in Jean-Marc Belotti's passion for bikes and his multiple commitments, it is that of freedom.
A freedom, "to think and move" which he likes to say is "his greatest heritage".
Add to that a deep social conscience born of his "execration of injustices and political shenanigans" and we begin to identify the character ... and his struggles.
Born in 1960 in Italy, Jean-Marc Belotti is tossed from house to house.
His parents having had to leave the country, he was first brought up by his aunts.
Strong women who will breathe the “ultra-feminism” that he claims today.
In particular, he was the first male member of the "All on the motorcycle" association.
He was six years old when he arrived in France, in a house "without water or electricity" with his maternal grandparents living in Aube.
Before being placed for three years in an orphanage of the Italian Catholic mission in Orly (Val-de-Marne).
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It was only at the age of twelve that he found his parents, who then moved to the 12th arrondissement of Paris.
"A very strict upbringing with a flogger but full of love which will save me", introduces the great emotional in a leather jacket bluntly.
He drives his first motorbike at 14
Teenager, Jean-Marc makes the 400 blows with "a band of loulous" of the district.
They "knights on a motorbike", he, the boy of the troop, lagging behind on his bicycle.
His first "mob" is his friends who steal it for him.
The son of Italian immigrants takes the beating of the century by his father who wants to succeed in integrating into the France of the glorious Trente which welcomed him.
Not resentful, he secretly completed a few years later the nest egg that he managed to put aside by dint of odd jobs to buy his first motorcycle at 14 years old.
A Honda PS50 that still drives, like its twenty bikes, from Japanese to Harleys, all bought “cheap and used” over the years.
The biker is not a fetishist of glittering women, rather a champion of anti-consumerism.
If he shaved the banana of his teenage rock n roll, Jean-Marc Belotti did not abandon the generous favorites stung to Elvis, his first idol.
Nor his leather jacket.
Above, his badge of the "paras" where the amateur of combat sports made his service, preferring the promise of adventure to the life of barracks.
“Motorcycles carry values of solidarity and erase social barriers”
It is on his return to France, after a few fuzzy years spent in Morocco “working in security missions”, that the brawler, the “little thug” that we guess carries a gun, puts his cars away.
The federation of angry motorcyclists (FFMC) was created in 1980. “Immediately interested” in the fight against the sticker but also the desire to give a more positive image of bikers and his commitment to road safety, Jean- Marc Belotti becomes an activist.
And took part in the creation of the bikers' insurance mutual in 1983.
Paris, Tuesday January 12, 2021 Portrait of Jean-Marc Belotti, coordinator of the FFMC (French Federation of Angry Bikers) Paris and Petite Couronne / LP / Olivier Arandel
“What I like is that like me, the FFMC has no political label, it's a melting pot of people who are there to defend the interests of users.
Like the world of motorcycles, which values solidarity and erases social barriers.
There is collusion between us, whether we are garbage collectors or CEOs ”, explains the one who took, a little over ten years ago, the head of the FFMC Paris and the inner suburbs, which has 900 inserts for 10 000 in France.
"He never remains stuck in his positions on principle"
Doubling the safety rails to avoid the "guillotine effect" in the event of an accident, withdrawal of the project of compulsory lighting of car lights which would have made bikers invisible in traffic… Jean-Marc Belotti is involved in all struggles .
Married, then divorced, father of three daughters, he was, until 2017, in charge of events for the monthly FFMC Moto magazine.
It was there that he met Yannick Picard, founder of the magazine, who would become a friend: “Jean-Marc is known for his commitment.
He is cash, sincere, never in reactionary criticism.
But he reacts to what he considers unfair, whatever the subject.
He is divisive but when we support him at least we know why.
On the other hand, he never gets stuck in his positions.
He knows how to evolve in the face of legitimate arguments, ”he confides.
A committee to move forward with the Paris town hall on the sharing of public space
Under the Delanoë era, PS mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014, Jean-Marc Belotti had succeeded in setting up with the city a committee of motorized two wheels which met every three months.
A charter had even been signed between the town hall of Paris and the FFMC.
“I suggested to David Belliard to put it back in place to move forward together on the sharing of public space.
There are things to do, but they are putting the cart before the horse with restrictions before offering alternatives to those who have two hours of commuting to work.
Yes, there are morons who wake up an entire neighborhood with their bikes, but we can't put all bikers in the same basket.
We are accused of all the words because we have been dragging the bad boy's backpack since the 50s ”, explains the coordinator of the FFMC who launched a petition against paid parking which has collected since the fall more of 21,000 signatures.
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Sharing public space as a credo, Jean-Marc Belotti says he is rather confident about the new experiment that will be launched soon to integrate interfile traffic into the highway code:
“The first experiment which has just ended gives mixed results with regard to accidentality.
For us, two wheels is safer on the ring road than staying behind the cars, but we have to respect the rules, driving at 90 km / hour between cars is suicidal.
We must therefore work with common sense and adopt the right behaviors to ensure the safety of all, ”he reacted to the announcement on Wednesday of the end of this first experiment launched in 2016 in Paris as in several other regions.
"He is someone who carries extremely strong human values"
A position joined by Christophe Guyot, world motorcycle champion and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001 with whom Jean-Marc Belotti collaborates to organize discovery and road safety operations at the Carole circuit (Seine-Saint-Denis), in particular with the disabled:
“As part of the motorcyclists' mutual fund in which I was involved, Jean-Marc immediately supported the road safety actions that we have put in place, particularly with schoolchildren and young drivers.
Free access to the Carole circuit twenty-six weekends a year to allow bikers to ride quickly in complete safety.
He is someone who carries extremely strong human values ”, depicts his fellow biker with affection.
In the coming weeks, Jean-Marc Belotti will also continue to fight against the exclusion of old machines with polluting engines from the low emission zones of Greater Paris.
In the meantime, the thirsty for escape "as close as possible to the landscapes and their inhabitants" is trying to continue despite the health crisis his new activity of organizing trips on two wheels around the world.
Bio express
1960. Born in Bergamo, Italy.
1966. Arrival in France.
Jean-Marc Belotti is first taken in by his maternal grandparents, Italian immigrants living in Aube, before entering a Catholic orphanage.
1972. Jean-Marc Belotti reunites with his parents who settle in Paris.
1974. He buys his first motorcycle.
1980. Creation of the federation of angry motorcyclists to which he immediately adheres.
2002. Organization of the first Motorsport Telethon at the Carole circuit.
2010. Jean-Marc Belotti becomes coordinator of the federation of angry bikers of Paris and its inner circle which has 900 inserts.
December 2020. The FFMC organizes demonstrations every day for a week to denounce the plan of the mayor of Paris to set up paid parking for motorized two-wheelers.
