227 replies to this topic

[Henri Greuter]

Again, another May 8th,

 

Even after 41 years, it still hurts to think back onto May 8th in 1982.

And the one event that day that has makse this date painful each and every year ever since.

And about what could have been if only....

 

Never to be forgotten, at least not by me.

 

Salut Gilles, and thank you for the good memories there are as well.

 

Rest in Peace

[Henri Greuter]

May 8th again.

 

 

Salut Gilles, never to be forgotten.

 

 

Rest in peace

[D28]

Thanks Henri for reminding us of that fateful day, The passage of years does nothing to lessen our memories of Gilles.  Always remembered with affection at home.

[Peeko]

[Henri Greuter]

What would you give to see anything like that in F1 being possible again nowadays if it comes to cornering, no matter the driver, no matter the car.....

[Gilles126c]

Another year since that sad day, such an exciting driver, every race was worth watching just to see what he would do, so clearly working without a safety net.

He would have won at least two tittles in 82 & 83.

[garoidb]

Today would have been his 75th birthday.

[D28]

He would be a very quick 75, were he still with us. Meanwhile there is no update on the cowardly theft of his statue last fall.

 

https://www.theautop...les-villeneuve/

[JacnGille]

I'm sure glad I got to see him race at Watkins in 1978 & '79, Montreal in 1980 & '81, then Long Beach in 1982. Thanks for the birthday reminder.

The Glen in '79 with the Magic Lap plus all his F Atlantic races at Road Atlanta for me.

[Bob Riebe]

A racer and engineer fast on any thing:

 

 

The 1981 Twin Track race sled had the wing on the rear and the two small wings on the front. Ski-doo only built three or four sleds that year. Jacques Villeneuve rode the entire SnoPro circuit that winter with the Ski-doo colors. Only “Jocko” raced the sled that year; except for the 1981 TT Moto-Ski (shown here).
The Moto-Ski colors and graphics were done specially for (brother) Gilles Villeneuve. Gilles was part of Bombardier’s advertising campaign for Moto-Ski, and raced the sled at the Montreal SnoPro in the winter of ‘81. When Enzo Ferrari found out his F1 driver had raced a snowmobile that weekend he was not amused. That was the last snowmobile race Gilles ran before being killed during practice for the Belgium Grand Prix at Zolder in May of 1982.
This was the sled that Gilles raced at Montreal and it sits today at the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, Wisconsin. The sled is now owned by Brad Warning.

[D28]

Had he survived, Gilles would probably still be racing somewhere, maybe in a similar machine. Brother Jocko despite multi broken bones and a bout with cancer retired from snow racing in 2016, only to run one final event in 2022. He was 69 at the time. The whole family likes to keep on racing.

[FLB]

Jacques (Gilles's brother) is still at it!    Just a bit of a warning, though: He's hard to understand even for a Québec native 

 

[Henri Greuter]

And again that day of the year.

 

Gilles wasn't the first driver of who I remember the day etc. of his accident and departure from this world.

But even nowadyas, at my current age, there is still no fatality within my favorite sport that hit me so hard and affected me so much, even to this day.

So much that it changes some of my attitude as how to deal with becoming a fan of a race car driver as from then on.

 

Salut Gilles, you will remain unforgettable for me. Thanks for the memories.

 

 

Henri

[B Squared]

A 4-ft by 5-ft Goodyear advertisement that I got from my local Goodyear store shortly after this sad day in 1982. Still missed and remembered.

Edited by B Squared, 08 May 2025 - 10:55.

[B Squared]

My photo of Gilles at Watkins Glen in 1979 shortly before the famous rain session.


Montreal 1980

Edited by B Squared, 08 May 2025 - 11:02.

[D28]

From the Home page of Autosport, Nigel Roebuck wrote this retrospective yesterday;

 

https://www.autospor...neuve/10717738/

 

Always remembered by his many admirers.

[JacnGille]

My photo of Gilles at Watkins Glen in 1979 shortly before the famous rain session.


Montreal 1980

I was cold and wet in the Canon Photo Tower in the Esses for "The Lap".

Edited by JacnGille, 08 May 2025 - 15:07.

[Doug Nye]

As an aside - and as I vividly remember - to some extent our poor now departed friend Jochen Mass suffered a degree of PTSD for the rest of his life after his involvement in the incident at Zolder which proved fatal to Villeneuve...  

 

I have no doubt which of these two fine drivers suffered more.

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 08 May 2025 - 17:55.

[Henri Greuter]

As an aside - and as I vividly remember - to some extent our poor now departed friend Jochen Mass suffered a degree of PTSD for the rest of his life after his involvement in the incident at Zolder which proved fatal to Villeneuve...  

 

I have no doubt which of these two fine drivers suffered more.

 

DCN

 

Given the fact that Gilles was unconsious once out of the car, I suppose that there is not much that he has suffered for being in pain, either physically or psychologically to the kind of being aware of it and actually suffering from the accident.

But I think what the real message is that you want to tell. And I think you are correct in that.

 

Anyway, I have met Jochen once in my life but even the big Gilles fan as I am, I could not harvest any bad feelings towards Jochen and I enjoyed meeting and talking with him about entirely differend things than his F1 career.

I am glad that Jochen got some creditable successes later on in his career.

 

I know about another fatal accident for which a driver has been absolved as being guilty for it about which I don't agree and rate him for way more guilty than he wants to be seen way more guilty than Jochen could be held guilty for regarding Gilles.

 

 

 

[Doug Nye]

This matter isn't about 'guilt' Henri.  

 

In a risk-taking activity chance dominates completely.  

 

I won't detail here what I once witnessed with Jochen.  But in the traumatised, just occasionally, some unexpected trigger can flash deeply-buried experience back to near-unbearably vivid life... Like the original incident itself it's then come and gone in a flash.

 

But it always leaves a bruise...

 

DCN

[Henri Greuter]

This matter isn't about 'guilt' Henri.  

 

In a risk-taking activity chance dominates completely.  

 

I won't detail here what I once witnessed with Jochen.  But in the traumatised, just occasionally, some unexpected trigger can flash deeply-buried experience back to near-unbearably vivid life... Like the original incident itself it's then come and gone in a flash.

 

But it always leaves a bruise...

 

DCN

Doug,

 

From me, nothing but respect for Jochen. Before and after today 43  years ago.

Live can't heve been the same before and after that day for him, as you indicated to us. And I believe you for the full 100%.

 

I have witnessed `trigger` reactions within my own life as well.

[B Squared]

The two men pictured next to each other randomly in the 1980 Long Beach program and also from Detroit in 1982, which was three weeks after the accident. The program was likely already at the printer.

Edited by B Squared, 08 May 2025 - 21:03.

[Henri Greuter]

Now that's close to being bizarre.

[B Squared]

Now that's close to being bizarre.

My thought too Henri.

[FLB]

The two men pictured next to each other randomly in the 1980 Long Beach program and also from Detroit in 1982, which was three weeks after the accident. The program was likely already at the printer.

Somebody I met a long time ago had (had?) a print test for a poster for the 1982 Canadian Grand-Prix, featuring Gilles crossing the finishing line in the 126 C2. I saw it myself.

 

The printing run was of course canceled after Gilles's passing.

[Henri Greuter]

gilles competing in the giro d'italia, 1979 on a lancia beta montecarlo martini.

 

 

im loving the pictures

http://www.doubledec...nt=print-search

 

 

Seeing this pix, I have question and maybe Italian readers may know the answer.

 

We see here the Lancia Beta MonteCarlo Gp 5 car but with an entirely different aero configuration that we know it from the endurance races it had competed in earlier in the year.

Here in the Giro it has a much shorter tailpiece and is lacking the snow shovel front spoiler.

 

I collect models of car raced by Gilles and I have seen this car, in this trim as a 1:24 scale model. But I have never seen a 1:43 model of this car.

I know the endurance version of the Beta Montecarlo ( Longtailed with snowplough) as 1;43 model and I do have a model of such a car in the colors as depicted here.

But I have never seen a picture of a '79 Villeneuve Giro d'Italia Montecarlo with the long tail and the snow plough nose.

 

Does anyone know by chance if the Alitalia Beta Montecarlos in the '79 Giro ever made use of the regular Endurance race style bodywork instead of the shortail&airdam nosepiece trim???

[PCC]

In a risk-taking activity chance dominates completely. 

I think this is sometimes insufficiently acknowledged. It's easy to say that Mass was to blame, or that Gilles was too reckless (both of which I would dispute), but there's little correlation between perceived recklessness and fatality. The sport took Jim Clark. And it spared Andrea de Cesaris, who once crashed 19 times in a single season (1981).

 

Assigning blame perhaps allows us to be in denial about the fundamental cruelty that was a routine part of the sport. But in the end, he who won the coin-toss survived. And I'm sure Gilles knew this as well as anyone, and would never have blamed Mass.

[E1pix]

Peter, that’s the best summary of that second I’ve ever seen anywhere, at anytime, since.

The bit about the other crashing driver almost ticks me off in some strange way, in getting away with it dozens of times… but sure makes the point about luck.