Warson's girlfriend. An orphan, she was brought up by her uncle Chris, in California, with her two brothers, Indy and Phil. She is at ease in any kind of motorcycle race. Before her appearance in the Michel Vaillant series (in the album "Paris-Dakar"), she starred in her own series, Julie Wood, which ran for eight volumes, from 1976 to 1980. Yves Douleac is a driver for the Vaillante team. He lost his father, a truck driver for Vaillante at Marseilles, at 7. He was brought up by his mother and he was very admirative of Michel Vaillant, getting to know him personally and being employed as a driver. Courageous and proud, he later fell in love with Gabriele Spangenberg, and succeeded in marrying her despite his modest origin. Gabriele Spangenberg is a German female driver for the Vaillante team and Yves Douléac's girlfriend. Her father, of noble heritage, first opposed such a union, due to Yves's poor origin, but later gave his permission, in the face of Gabriele's determination. Bob Cramer is an American driver, Vaillante's enemy and a driver for the Leader team along with his friend and partner Dan Hawkins. A drunkard and a brawler, he is also aggressive in motor races where he caused a lot of crashes. Non-fictional characters As a driver evolving in the motor racing background, Michel Vaillant competes with many existing drivers, some of whom play an important part in the stories. Pierre Dieudonné appeared in some adventures as a driver for the Vaillante team. Drivers, most notably French and Belgians like Vanina and Jacky Ickx, François Cevert, Patrick Tambay, Thierry Boutsen, René Arnoux, Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Éric Bernard, have made appearances in the storylines. Gilles Villeneuve and Jacky Ickx are portrayed as good friends of Michel's as is Didier Pironi, and are the most recurring drivers of the series. Didier Pironi played an important part in the album: Un pilote a disparu (1980). Non-fictional team managers and journalists also appear regularly, as do some statesmen and celebrities. Michel himself is often seen being interviewed by real-life journalist Gérard "Jabby" Crombac. Publications Volume 1 : Le Grand défi (1959) Volume 2 : Le Pilote sans visage (1960) Volume 3 : Le Circuit de la peur (1961) Volume 4 : Route de nuit (1962) Volume 5 : Le 13 est au départ (1963) Volume 6 : La Trahison de Steve Warson (1964) Volume 7