He was humorous and always good for a surprise. But he was also known for not being a particularly good driver. When he was travelling on the roads, it was not uncommon for his driving style to cause loud honking and roaring.
When Florian Festge was on a business trip to Mexico in 2010 during his active time as Managing Director of W.S. Tyler in Canada, Jesús Pantino picked him up by car from his hotel to visit a customer. Florian Festge – himself a passionate and experienced driver – couldn’t help feeling uneasy when he got into the car with him. And right enough, they set off bumping and stumbling. The first honking concerts were not long in coming. Jesús acknowledged this with a smile or an “oops” at best. “Oh, that’s nothing, Mr Festge,” he declared. “The other day I was travelling on the Passeo della Reforma, a main road in Mexico City, when I heard an urgent traffic announcement on the radio that there was a wrong-way driver on the road”. “Only one? – I shouted at the radio presenter – there’s hundreds!”
The car fell silent for a moment. It was only when the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile that Florian Festge realised that this credibly told story was just a joke.