Villeneuve, Jacques

▪ 1996

      In 1994, his first year as a driver on the IndyCar racing circuit, Jacques Villeneuve placed second in the Indianapolis 500 race. He finished the season in sixth place in the overall points standing and was named Rookie of the Year. His second season on the circuit was even better. He won the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Canadian to do so. At the end of the season, he had the highest overall points total and thereby won the PPG IndyCar World Series Championship; he was the youngest driver to have won that prize.

      Born on April 9, 1971, Villeneuve was the son of Gilles Villeneuve and the nephew of Jacques Villeneuve, both Canadian race car drivers. He spent much of his early childhood traveling on the racing circuit with his parents, first in North America and then in Europe. His father became successful in European racing and moved the family from Quebec to Monaco in 1978. Jacques attended boarding school in Switzerland for six years and then decided to become a race car driver. In 1986 he took lessons at the Jim Russell Driving School in Quebec—the same school that his father had attended. The next year he went to the Spenard-David Racing School in Shannonville, Ont. There he was given lessons by his father's former teammate, Richard Spenard.

      Villeneuve began his racing career at the age of 17, driving in three events in the Alfa Italian Tourism Championship. From 1989 to 1991 he drove on the Italian Formula Three racing circuit, and then in the 1992 season he raced Formula Three cars in Japan. There he won three races and finished second in the overall points standing. He spent the 1993 season driving on the Formula Atlantic racing circuit in North America, winning 5 of his 15 races there and gaining Rookie of the Year honours. In 1994 he joined the IndyCar racing circuit. The car he drove there had a Reynard chassis and a Ford-Cosworth engine.

      Villeneuve was a cool, mature, and consistent driver who kept his emotions in check behind the wheel and took risks only when he thought them justified. This was unlike his father who, according to his son, "always drove like crazy." In the main, Jacques disliked comparisons between his style and that of his father, who was killed in a racing accident in 1982. He admitted, however, that the Villeneuve name had made his career path easier. (DIANE LOIS WAY)

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