This will be his sixth participation in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières over a period of 30 years.
He was on Wednesday at the ICAR circuit in Mirabel, on the airport runways, to make contact with the team and the car.
It was during the Daytona 500 (where he finished 22nd), in February, that he accepted the offer of Martin D’Anjou, president of Festidrag Développement, to participate in the trifluvienne race, the ninth stage of the season.
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Jacques Villeneuve on the ICAR circuit
Photo: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The history of the Villeneuves in Trois-Rivières has lasted for more than a generation.
It’s a super important race for the whole family, said Villeneuve on Wednesday before hitting the track. It is thanks to this race that Gilles was in F1. He had beaten F1 drivers that day. And thanks to that, he was able to drive at McLaren and then at Ferrari.
Gilles’ race in Trois-Rivières of which Jacques speaks took place on September 5, 1976.
That day he had beaten guest F1 drivers including Vittorio Brambilla, Alan Jones, Patrick Tambay and James Hunt who was driving for McLaren at the time. That’s how Gilles was able to try out for McLaren at Silverstone and start his F1 career with that team.
Gilles Villeneuve and his son Jacques in 1974
Photo: Getty Images/AFP
Sixteen years later, in 1992, his son Jacques was also able to leave his mark by finishing 3rd in a race in the Formula Atlantic Championship in 1992.
Me, I came 30 years ago in Formula Atlantic, and that race ended with a podium. And that opened the door to the Indy formula for me, and the three years I did allowed me to go to F1
he says.
Sometimes a career can be decided on a day, a moment, and those moments were important to us.
he adds.
Today, his track record established, Jacques Villeneuve can accept contracts first to have fun. If possible with high-performance cars.
I have already done three races in the NASCAR Canada championship (Pinty’s) in Trois-Rivières, and once in rallycross in the world championship.
Jacques Villeneuve in an interview with Radio-Canada
Photo: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
In my other participations, I was quite competitive. And there, I have a lot of experience in the European NASCAR championship. The cars are quite similar at first glance, but there is more horsepower in the Canadian cars.
fun et ensuite avoir une bonne course”,”text”:”La piste dans Trois-Rivières est sympathique à piloter. Il y a une bonne ambiance, donc déjà, (je veux) avoir du fun et ensuite avoir une bonne course”}}”>The track in Trois-Rivières is fun to drive. There is a good atmosphere, so already, (I want) to have some fun and then have a good run
he said.
» I always find an excuse to go back to Trois-Rivières. »
Villeneuve did about ten laps of the ICAR circuit in three outings, in order to properly adjust his seat and check the basic functions of the car.
Jacques Villeneuve in Dodge No. 7, leaning on his right front wheel
Photo: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
From his second test, we saw that he attacked more, braked later on approaching the turns and reaccelerated more frankly at the cost of a few skids. He twice ignited his front tires under braking.
At the end of the session, he was two tenths of a second behind the permanent drivers in the series. The passion and drive are still there, the clock will follow.
It moves a lot, that’s different from European cars
he noted at the microphone of Radio-Canada.
The car performs well. We didn’t work much on the settings, because the track at Trois-Rivières is really very different from here, but we just wanted to make sure today that everything was working, and adjust the seat, because the race at Trois-Rivières Rivers will be long.
