Canada: JV Hopes for Better Luck at Home Track

By Jamie Makin
June 8 2005

The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada may be named for Jacques Villeneuve's father but the track has shown no mercy to him over the years. Villeneuve started second on the grid in his debut with Williams in 1996.

He finished second in the race that year. 1997 would again see him start second but it all went wrong when he crashed his car into the wall ending his day. Since that time, he has failed to finish a race at his home track. Last year he missed the Canadian Grand Prix altogether.

This year he will return home and be looking to put the demons of the past behind him. He is looking forward to returning home with his new team.

"Montreal is a special race for me. That’s not only because this is my home race so it feels special to come here, but because there are many great aspects to this event," said Villeneuve. "The track is located in a very nice area and the crowd is fantastic. The drivers are closer to the fans than at most tracks and it creates such a great atmosphere. The city offers a lot of entertainment and the people are very welcoming. I don't know of anyone coming to Montreal without being literally charmed."

As for the circuit named after his father, Villeneuve knows it well enough but needs some luck on his side to get to the finish. "In terms of racing, the qualifying laps are not so exciting as there aren't any real fast corners, but racing is great because of the many heavy braking areas available around the track, where it is possible to overtake," Villeneuve explained. "Down the main straight you reach speeds between 330 and 340 km/h but the mid-speed chicane halfway down is a tricky one: You have to carry a lot of speed into this corner and change direction quickly. A lot of drivers have had accidents there, me included! I hope that we will be able to score some points here as we suffered from bad luck in recent races and the team really deserves some good results. I know that my week is going to be very intense but I am very excited about it and look forward to being there."

Jacques Villeneuve - Results for Canadian GP:

YEAR	QUAL	RACE	COMMENTS
2003	14	DNF	Brakes
2002	9	DNF	Engine
2001	9	DNF	Halfshaft
2000	6	15	Collision
1999	16	DNF	Spun Off
1998	6	10	+ 6 laps
1997	2	DNF	Collision
1996	2	2	-