44 replies to this topic

[Math Soucy]

I often read accounts of the late Gilles Villeneuve and almost to a man, each document is nothing less than a glowing encomium. Bobby Rahal rated him as the most talented racing driver he had ever competed against "absolutely fearless, and the greatest car control I've ever witnessed."
As I never had the good fortune to witness G. Villeneuve compete, and have only seen "highlight" clips of some of his daring manouevers, I'm curious as to whether Gilles' status has been best remembered through posterity, or did he receive the same adulation when he had been competing. I'd like to hear opinions from any one, but particularly from veteran fans who watched him compete. Thanks.

[NYR2119935]

Death often immortalizes people. I too would like to know some more info about Gilles before his tragedy.

[CDNgrl]

Gerry Donaldson wrote a pretty good bio on Gilles Villeneuve (I believe you can check a review on this book on the site if you have access to it). It gives a good picture (somehwhat biased, I think, but generally fair) of the man -- with lots of quotes (unbiased) and opinions of others. Personally, I think he was was of the greatest -- his style -- but more than that -- his absolute love of racing. He had lots of respect from his peers.

[355 boy]

Check the Atlas court - there was a long case regarding GV.

IMHO he was a talented driver but alot more praise was lauded upon him after he croaked.

[RedFever]

Gilles had a really hard time in his first year in F1, many criticized him for his take-no-prisoners approach to racing. But in 1979 already, they had to change their mind. Unfortunately, in 1980 and 1981 he had to drive arguably the worst two Ferraris of the past 25 years, but with the 126C managed to get the first turbo win in Monaco and his materpiece win in Jarama, keeping 4 drivers of the caliber of DeAngelis, Reutemann, Laffitte and Watson, all with better cars, behind him for 70 laps. They all finished within 2 seconds from Gilles!!!!!!

Too many are the great memories left by Gilles, Dijon 1979 maybe the most famous. In answering your question, Gilles was already the Italian fans idol in 1979, he was loved as nobody after him ever was, not Mansell, not Prost, not Schumacher. Actually, nobody in Italy since Tazio Nuvolari was loved and respected as much in Ferrariland. It is not a coincidence that old Enzo Ferrari said that Gilles was the best driver he employed since Tazio had raced for him......

[John B]

Here is the link to the Villeneuve court case which has three pages on the subject:

http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=14397



Personally I became a F1 fan at about the same time GV began his career, and from what I remember he did receive a lot of praise. 11 second pole at Watkins Glen and the Dijon battle with Arnoux are well documented, but I best remember the 1981 season when he was driving the turbo Ferrari. The Monaco and Jarama wins are well known, other performances of note were finishing 4th at Zolder with a screwed up suspension which had the front of the car raised higher than the rear, and 3rd at Montreal with a smashed front wing that for a while impeded his vision. He was able to assert himself with Pironi as a teammate, who was not slow. Autocourse ranked him 3rd that year even though he never factored in the title race, ahead of both WDC Piquet and runner-up Reutemann.

1982 was especially sad as he had an opportunity to win the title. He lost a good 3rd at Long Beach because Ferrari ran some strange double rear wing to make a point against the light-weight Cosworth cars (which soon after were disqualified from their Brazilian 1-2, when GV crashed out while leading and trying to hold them off). He was on course for the Imola win until the Pironi incident.

[Williams]

Originally posted by CDNgrl
Gerry Donaldson wrote a pretty good bio on Gilles Villeneuve (I believe you can check a review on this book on the site if you have access to it). It gives a good picture (somehwhat biased, I think, but generally fair) of the man -- with lots of quotes (unbiased) and opinions of others. Personally, I think he was was of the greatest -- his style -- but more than that -- his absolute love of racing. He had lots of respect from his peers.

I found Donaldson's book to be extremely fair, to the point that I would say that it's a reasonably unbiased, if affectionate, book. He of course relates the extent of Gilles' amazing talent, but also delves into some of the troubles in his relationship with his wife, as related by her, and also includes some criticism by other members of the F1 franternity, including his teammate at Ferrari, Jody Scheckter. All in all, it's the definitive book on the life of Gilles Villeneuve, and not just my opinion but also the opinion of some F1 writers as well.

[CDNgrl]

I also agree it is the definitive book on Gilles Villeneuve -- which is why I suggested he read it.

I tend to find it biased -- but perhaps that is because I know Gerry Donaldson likes him so much --- I prefer your description -- affectionate. Personally, however ---- I found that he "brushed over" the more unpleasant stuff --- e.g. his affair with the Toronto woman, problems in his marriage, etc, but perhaps he simply didn't want to sensationalize that stuff. Hinting at it was enough .

[RedFever]

honestly do I care who he slept with????? No. All I care about a driver is his driving!!!!!!

[Billy]

Originally posted by Williams
... Donaldson's book ... also includes some criticism by other members of the F1 franternity, including his teammate at Ferrari, Jody Scheckter.

Like the time when Gilles and Jody were out driving on a trip through Italy. Gilles' manager was in the car too, and he tells this story

Jody pulls into this gas station to get benzina. He rolls down the window and looks at the gas guy. Jody's the World Champion. The guy didn't move. He just looked at Jody and pumped the gas. Then Villeneuve lowers his window and the guy sees him and says, 'Hey! Villanova!' and a crowd gathers around on Gilles' side of the car. Jody opened the door and started to shout: 'Look, you sons of bitches! You bastards! I'm the World Champion -- not him.' And he gets back in the car and says to me, 'Can you believe this?' He was laughing, but only half joking I think.

[ehagar]

Originally posted by RedFever
honestly do I care who he slept with????? No. All I care about a driver is his driving!!!!!!

Well, the book was a biography, and Donaldson treated the off the track stuff in a delicate manner. I gave it to my mother after I read it and she was amazed how tolerant of a woman Joanne Villeneuve must have been. To find out your home was sold just like that.... In my family, that's grounds for divorce

But it is the best Villeneuve book out there in my opinion.

Has anyone read Donaldson's book on Steve Podborski or Steve Bauer? He seemed to like to do biographies of racers, wonder how good they were.

[mtl'78]

For sure he was an imperfect man. His life outside F1 was often a shambles, but you have to remember that Gilles was a small town french Canadian farm boy who was totally oblivious to the politics and aristocracy of Formula 1. He had grown up in near abject poverty his whole life and all of a sudden was a millionaire living in Monaco. He kept many of his North-American traits in Europe.

He would tell Enzo Ferrari that his car was ****. Nobody EVER dared to say that. But the way he would say it, Enzo would only love him more. He'd say it was ****, but he would still drive the wheels off of it, because THAT's what he did.

It's for things like these that GV is so fondly remembered. His on-track exploits are what they are. Nostalgia's backlash can't do anything to diminish his incredible giant-killing performances. Some have mentioned Jarama and Monaco 1981. I watched those races and it was magic. Just picture the winner at this weekend's race was driving for Jaguar. That's about where Ferrari were at that time in terms of pace.

What truly amazed people at the time was GV's comitement. He would always drive at the limit. In those days that was a very dangerous thing to do. Safety was not what it is today. When Jacques, whom most consider the bravest driver today, takes a big risk and tries Eau Rouge Flat in a BAR, he expects to come out alive if he gets it wrong. In those days, you had a high probability of dying or suffering a serious injury. So for GV to drive as hard as he did, took A LOT more courage than ANY driver today would ever need to call upon.

It really bothers me how younger fans assume GV's legend is built out of nostalgia and misplaced guilt at his death. If anything, time has diminished his greatness. Safety improvements have made it a lot easier for a driver today to emulate GV's aggression. There is no penalty for mistake. What differentiated GV from the other drivers of his time was his willingness to go for those extra tenths, even when stuck at the back of the grid in hoplessly uncompetitive cars. To top it all off, in the face of these incredible risks, he was always calm cool and collected, never got over excited and never, ever, ever resorted to dirty driving.

So for that reason he will always be greater than Lauda, Prost, Senna, Schumacher all of the dominant drivers of the last 25 years. They all had skills to match his, but they all resorted to dirty tricks both on and off the track at any given time. Gilles was the fastest and fairest driver of his time. Not many drivers in the history of F1 can claim the same.

[RedFever]

Billy - good story, very typical of what was going on in Italy, Jody was the champ, but everyone considered Gilles the real champ.

Mtl 78

"If anything, time has diminished his greatness."

Absolutely right. I am so sick and tired of this bullshit everythime there is someone saying Gilles became an idol because he died. That is bullshit. He was much more famous and respected and idolized while he was ALIVE!!!!!!!! People were just waiting for him to do something at each and every race. It is ridiculous to hear the glorification JPM gets for one pass on Schumi in Brazil, thanks to Michael's messing the restart and not expecting a pass there. Gilles would perform sometimes 4-5 passes like that in one single race, for Pete's sake!!!!!! Time and his death have actually reduced his status, because young people who started watching F1 in the past 5-10 years, look at ranks and stats and hardly ever find Gilles name. So, they don't know him and he gets forgotten. But in his days, Gilles was the attraction, people were going to race to watch him compete more than any other diver. He was often a bigger spectacle fighting for 11th place than the rest were fighting for the lead.

[Williams]

mtl'78

[Billy]

Originally posted by RedFever
It is ridiculous to hear the glorification JPM gets for one pass on Schumi in Brazil, thanks to Michael's messing the restart and not expecting a pass there.

With the pitlane where it is, how could Schumacher compress the field enough to get a jump over the field? MS thought the setup for the pass was easy, given the straightline speed differences between the cars, and he clearly was expecting it:

Michael Schumacher: It was pretty easy, I mean he had quite a lot of straight-line speed in comparison to us. The problem here is that it's a very long straight from the last corner to the start and finish line so you have to give a long time for the Safety Car to go off then before you can start to push and you only have until this last corner. And the guys are very close to you from there and it is very easy then to take the slipstream and go past into the first corner. Although I thought I was in front enough to keep in front, I mean he must have braked very late and he just got it right.

[BARnone]

Hi All:

Sometimes the greatest insight into a driver is how he is thought of by his fellow drivers. This URL has some really good quotes. I like the Alan Jones one:

http://www.bath.ac.u...es/gilles1.html

Enjoy!

BARnone.

[RedFever]

Billy

"Although I thought I was in front enough to keep in front"

to me it sounds like he didn't expect it at all, which is what MS said in immediate post race interviews. He simply thought he was safe, only to see JPM on his side well too late.

[Williams]

Oh well now it's just another Schumacher thread ...;)

[Peeko]

I'm surprised the one from Chris Amon isn't up there. After seeing Gilles drive (I think it was a Can-Am car, which was terrible), Chris said he had only seen one person with the amount of car control that Gilles had, and it was Jim Clark.

[RedFever]

well, Chris Amon is the guy that told Enzo Ferrari he knew this little Canadian driver who was the best driver around.....the rest is history!!!

[shoofirbin]

i had the opportunity to see and touch one of gv's cars at the historic car display at the usgp last spetember, and i can honestly say that it was one of the more thrilling experiences of my life. there's something about that guy; i never saw him race, and really didn't know anything about him until i went to my first gp in montreal, where, of course, his name is everywhere. after that, i started reading about him, read all the stories, and was instantly facsinated by this guy who had died many years ago. why? i'm not sure.

[Math Soucy]

Thank you all for your cogent insight. I am new to this board, and I am excited to know so many knowledgable racing enthusiasts exist and respond in rapid fashion. As I live in New England, until Indy last year, Montreal has been a pilgrimage these past five years, and while staying off St. Catherine's two years ago, they had an all too brief recapitulation of the history of the Canadian Grand Prix (even Mosport park) and they had good coverage of (what was then) the autumn of 1978, and the first Grand Prix contested at Isle Notre Dame, and Gilles first to the flag in the Prancing Horse. Then, a quick montage of GV highlights, many moments addressed in your posts, but one indelible moment that remains for me was a heart-stopping duel with Rene Arnoux for not first, but second place. It still gives me chills. Then, they showcased some of his spectacular spins and this incredible sequence of GV driving his Ferrari so hard that at one point he is on three wheels and dragging suspension parts while sparks ingnite on the tarmac. Great stuff.

[mtl'78]

Hehe... My uncle was the producer for CBC sports for over 30 years and he produced the GP since its first year (he also did he FOX coverage of the USGP and will do it again this year) ...He made that video you're talking about! It was for the 1998 20th aniversary I think.

And I guess you've deduced that the very race you mention was my first ever exposure to racing as a boy. I guess you could say it was all downhill from there!

[Davebo]

Originally posted by BARnone
Hi All:

Sometimes the greatest insight into a driver is how he is thought of by his fellow drivers. This URL has some really good quotes. I like the Alan Jones one:

http://www.bath.ac.u...es/gilles1.html

Enjoy!

BARnone.

Great stuff there - thanks for the link!

I especially liked this one...



Qualifying, 1981 French GP, Dijon
Quoted without permission from Nigel Roebuck's wonderful Grand Prix Greats (1986), Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, UK. pp208-209, ISBN 0-85059-792-7.


During practice at Dijon in 1981, Gilles crashed at the Courbe de Pouas, an undulating, flat-in-fourth right hander, with no run-off worth mentioning. During the lunch break I found him dabbing a cut on his jaw: "Bloody catch pole cracked my helmet and broke the visor ..."
"You overdid it ?" I asked. "Just ran out of road ?" "No, no," he grinned. "I ran out of lock ! "The car is really bad through there - an adventure every time. Go and have a look this afternoon and you'll see what I mean." I did. I watched the Cosworth-engined Williams and Brabhams droning through on their rails, and waited.

At its clipping point, at the top of a rise, the Ferrari was already sideways, its driver winding on opposite lock. As it came past me, plunging downhill now, the tail stayed out of line, further and further, and still Gilles had his foot hard down. As he reached the bottom of the dip, I knew the position was hopeless, for now it was virtually broadside, full lock on, Villeneuve's head pointing up the road, out of the side of the cockpit.

Somehow, though, the Ferrari did not spin, finally snapping back into line as it grazed the catch fencing, then rocketing away up the hill. For more than a hundred yards, I swear it, the car was sideways at 130 mph. "That's genius," said David Hobbs, watching with me. "Are you seriously telling me he's won two Grand Prix in that?"

[Melbourne Park]

Frank Williams says that Alan Jones was the fastest Williams driver.

I am sure he would have had no problems informing Mr Ferarri about problems with his car.

But Oh, sorry, this is a GV thread, and AJ never drove a red car ...

[BARnone]

Melbourne Park:

This is what Alan Jones had to say about Gilles at the '79 Montreal GP:

[just after having passed Gilles for the lead] "I've done it, and once I was into the lead I built up a bit of a cushion. But as soon as I backed off a fraction there was that bloody red ****-box in my mirrors again ! Villeneuve was unbelievable like that - I mean, he never gave up. He was the best driver I ever raced against, I think, and I certainly enjoyed my fights with him more than with anyone else, because I always knew exactly where I was with him. He'd never drive straight at you or edge you into a wall, or any of that stuff."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am no Ferrari fan - and I love that "bloody red ****-box" remark.

BARnone.

[Schummy]

Gilles was an idol in his epoch for many people. In those years my interest for F1 was wearing down, and when Gilles appeared I watched the F1 races that were TVed just to see him.

In recent years I sometimes wonder about if Gilles was really WDC stuff. Time dulls memories and now I sometimes doub if he was SO good. But most of time I think my memories are real and I am not "making a legend" myself. Put simply, he was the most irreal driver I've ever seen, the bravest, the most original and audacious in his racing lines.

It is difficult to understand now the sort of crap cars he had to drive and the heroic perfomances he was able to do. For me Monaco&Jarama 81 were not the best races, although great ones. In my mind I have heroic, incredible races where he drove his bad car against much better ones during an amazing amount of time, doing amazing slides, making "funny" lines, etc. Eventually, his car broke or simply he just went above physic laws. It was not idiocy, because he (and me!) prefered it to get a 11th position.

I've never seen another driver so ... "great to watch" (to say that way) latter. The only driver I'v seen lately with that "above law of physic" feeling is Mansell in some notables moments when he used his "big balls" to do something "not really possible". Sometimes Michael Schum has done some astounding things (ie: that Barcelona wet race, 84?). Prost, Senna, etc were great champions, who doubs that, but Prost was amazing smooth and wise, Senna was ultrafast, precise and (almost) never furious and so edgy (except maybe his Lotus-Renault epoch, my favourite).

I'm sad for F1 when I see the hype about some passes in comtemporary races. I'm not particularly impressed with JPM's overtake in Brazil, or MH in Spa. They were good maneuvres, but not mega ones (do you see motorbikes FIM GPs?), and they are great drivers, but nowadays F1 don't let them show their true talent. If you can get a comercial videotape of, for example, a 70s season or race, you can see the difference (BTW, incredibly dangerous racing )

In short, Gilles was almost irreal, and the memories sometimes try to fade away to better enjoy the current (crap) race action ;)

[BARnone]

Schummy:

Like you, I had to do a memory check. I asked my contemporaries what they remember about Gilles - without exception - they said he was the most exciting driver they ever watched (this is in the above 40 crowd).

BARnone.

[Melbourne Park]

GV was a great, but for me he was not at the top. For me he was crazy fast, not clinically fast.

I got more excited about Alan Jones on several occassions, because he was the fastest of all, lap after clean lap after clean lap right at the limit.

GV was fun to watch though, a great tryer and slider and overall driver.

As to the comments about GV's courage, he had that for sure but his courage can be a criticism of his driving as he died on the track ... also the bikers even now are more at risk and suffer more injuries than F1 racers did even back then.

different strokes for different strokes I guess ...

[mtl'78]

Originally posted by BARnone
Schummy:

Like you, I had to do a memory check. I asked my contemporaries what they remember about Gilles - without exception - they said he was the most exciting driver they ever watched (this is in the above 40 crowd).

BARnone.

it's the same thing as getting the chance to watch Wayne Gretzky play Hockey or Micheal Jordan play Basketball, Tiger Woods and golf etc. Every once in a while, There is an athlete which creates this 'magic' around them. It's not that they are meerly the best in their fields, it's that they leave(left) you scratching your head in disbelief. They totally raise the standard by which all future talent will be judged.

[mtl'78]

Sorry Melbourne but I have to disagree on both points. Alan Jones was a fine racer, but he was only champion because of the unbeatable Williams. He was certainly one of the top 5 drivers of his era (say 1977-83) but he never produced the kind of drives Gilles did.

And F1, from 1960-82 averaged around 2 deaths per season. Not to mention injuries like Lauda, Pironi, Reggazonni, etc... FIM riders are increadibly brave, but that doesn't change the fact that F1 was a vicious sport at the time.

[tom]

thanks for that site BARnone.
my eyes started to water while reading of his fatal crash, i really wish i could've sdeen that man drive.
maybe montoya will bring more entertainment of that kind ?
or jaques.

[Rene]

Schummy awesome post!! Very well written! Thanks.

[Melbourne Park]

Originally posted by mtl'78
Sorry Melbourne but I have ... disagree... Alan Jones was a fine racer, but he was only champion because of the unbeatable Williams. He was certainly one of the top 5 drivers of his era (say 1977-83) but he never produced the kind of drives Gilles did.

Thats OK mtl'78, non of us can claim to be right.

However according to Frank Williams, CEO of Williams, the fastest driver he has ever had in his team, including today's two drivers, was Alan Jones. And Frank is a more expert judge than most.


I won't list the other Wiiliams drivers, as this really is a GV thread, but there have been some other good ones.

[Witt]

On the subject of Alan Jones & Gilles Villeneuve, he's a host of Australia's GP coverage and i like it how he always tells us at least once a year about how he was just about to sign for Ferrari late 77, and in his words "but then some little French Canadian guy came along, and the rest is history". The way he says it, it's very humble and it just sounds like he really respected Gilles a lot, especially since they were at the centre of some really great battles. Geez i wish i was alive to witness that stuff back then......

I love reading all these stories you guys are telling here, great stuff. I may not have witnessed Gilles' racing until just a few years ago on a video, but man, it's like nothing i've ever seen before. The way he just always went for it, absolutely superb.

[Rene]

Math Soucy why don't you check out http://www.farzadsf1...com/movies.html
Scroll down to 1979 and load that video up....

[arcwulf7]

Originally posted by Melbourne Park


Thats OK mtl'78, non of us can claim to be right.

However according to Frank Williams, CEO of Williams, the fastest driver he has ever had in his team, including today's two drivers, was Alan Jones. And Frank is a more expert judge than most.


I won't list the other Wiiliams drivers, as this really is a GV thread, but there have been some other good ones.

Frank Williams did an interview with Murray Walker that was printed here some time ago. It shows what a close relationship he had with Alan Jones.

http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=20913

MW: It’s been a bit of a cliché in the business but they all say that the one whose closest to your heart is the rough, gruff, tough, outspoken, determined Alan Jones. Is that a cliché or is it true?

FW: There is a considerable, but not total amount of truth in that. In that Alan Jones was, in age terms, a contemporary of myself & Patrick. Those were the early days of the team and you always tend to look back as you get older and think ‘those were the days’. But one has fond memories of course. He represented or helped bring us our first World Championship title and life was certainly less complicated then. He was a man’s man. He like his beer and told a good joke. He loved to fight, not us. But never shirked a fight anywhere. Got into a lot of trouble in his time. But he was a memory of mine and enjoyed.

Assessments are always seen through the lens of your own experience.

Personally i think Gilles was a hybrid of Schumacher and Senna - aggression and precision -- not necessarily better than either, but with his own unique style and position -- The best of all time - that will never be sufficiently answered for ANY driver, and Gilles died before he realized his full talent. -- One of the greatest - oh, yeah.

[MattFoster]

Originally posted by mtl'78


What truly amazed people at the time was GV's comitement. He would always drive at the limit. In those days that was a very dangerous thing to do. Safety was not what it is today. When Jacques, whom most consider the bravest driver today, takes a big risk and tries Eau Rouge Flat in a BAR, he expects to come out alive if he gets it wrong. In those days, you had a high probability of dying or suffering a serious injury. So for GV to drive as hard as he did, took A LOT more courage than ANY driver today would ever need to call upon.

It really bothers me how younger fans assume GV's legend is built out of nostalgia and misplaced guilt at his death. If anything, time has diminished his greatness. Safety improvements have made it a lot easier for a driver today to emulate GV's aggression. There is no penalty for mistake. What differentiated GV from the other drivers of his time was his willingness to go for those extra tenths, even when stuck at the back of the grid in hoplessly uncompetitive cars. To top it all off, in the face of these incredible risks, he was always calm cool and collected, never got over excited and never, ever, ever resorted to dirty driving.

So for that reason he will always be greater than Lauda, Prost, Senna, Schumacher all of the dominant drivers of the last 25 years. They all had skills to match his, but they all resorted to dirty tricks both on and off the track at any given time. Gilles was the fastest and fairest driver of his time. Not many drivers in the history of F1 can claim the same.

Hear Hear!!!!!!!!! I feel privledged to have seen him race and it was more awe inspiring than Senna ever was. Gilles made me an F1 fan.

[Flying Mantuan]

Gilles was an amazing driver. He had natural car control. I had the opportunity to watch him at all of his Canadian Grand Prix events. Unfortunately, his emotions got the better of him. One of my favourite memories of him is coming into the hairpin in the pouring rain, he passed 3 or 4 cars, but was too deep and went off. In those days there was no gravel, it was grass. You could hear him revving the engine so as not to stall, as the car spun off the track. Huge rooster tails shot off the back wheels as he got back on the track. A few laps later he had caught those same cars. This time he went past and drifted the car around the hairpin to take the position. During his short career, Gilles was subject to team orders, or did not have the car to win. The year he was killed, he had a good chance of becoming world champion. None the less he was a true racer and very exciting to watch. He finished much higher than his car should have permitted.

When I watch Jacques, I see glimpses of his father's daring, but Jacques is more of a thinking driver. Gilles had to win at all costs, and in the end the price was too high. A great loss to motorsport.

[BARouette]

What I heard about this man is someone who always gave a good show, very fast even with a bad car but never able to do the set-up of the car or didn't care about it. I remember him winning a race even after loosing its front wing and deciding to stay on the track instead of returning to the pit.

[mtl'78]

Flying Mantuan, and welcome to the board.

[ebe]

When I watched JV back then, I liked him somehow for
his crazy style of driving. I was a Andretti fan in that time.

Lot's of people said in 77 - 82 that JV will not become
very successful because of his way to drive F1 cars like
'snowmobiles' - where he was so good at.

I think JV was very lucky to drive a Ferrari and that
Enzo Ferrari liked JV very much. There he had all the
opportunities and chances and a team with big budget.

If JV would have driven a McLaren or Ligier or some car
like that he would have ended like A. DeCesaris later called
DeCrasheris or maybe like Alesi.

On the one hand JV became so famous for his style
but it this kind of driving which prevented him from
being really successful.

His tragic end made him immortal, because he could not
finally proove his abilities.

[ehagar]

Ummmm... GV not JV.

Don't think JV will ever drive a Ferrari.

[Schummy]

;) ... I think he talked about Jean Alesi, not the great Gilles

[pinchevs]

Obituary by Nigel Roebuck for Autosport Magazine - May 13, 1982.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilles Villeneuve

Last Saturday afternoon Gilles Villeneuve died violently at the wheel of a Ferrari. It was the end of the final practice session, and he was going for it. He was on his last set of qualifying tyres, and came upon a slower car. In those circumstances, Gilles so often said, you had to squeeze your fear, keep your foot down. It was absurd, but the system left you no alternative.

Many people in motor racing were totally unable to understand Villeneuve. He was more fiercely competitive than anyone I have ever seen, yet the attraction of the man was that he saved it all for his racing. On the track or off, his integrity was absolute. He had not a trace of affectation. There was no need to surround himself with vacuous hangers-on, as did so many of his colleagues.

Ego is very important in motor racing, essential even. But Gilles enormous confidence came from within himself. He had no need of yes-men to tell him how good he was. He knew. As a consequence, he was secure enough to admit his mistakes, rather than blame the car, and he would look you straight in the eye as he did so.

It was a short career, just over four years at the top of the sport he loved so much. When Gilles first appeared in Formula 1, at Silverstone in 1977, he already had an awesome reputation. Those who had seen him in Canada spoke of an astonishing balance and confidence and pace, and it was apparent in Europe from the start.

History will relate only that he drove in 67 Grands Prix, and won six. It will not remember him as a World Champion, but that is of no consequence. Any such list which omits a Moss is already an absurdity, and Gilles himself often said that the World Championship was a secondary consideration, a bonus. Driving 'for points' was complete anathema to him, a concept he found impossible to comprehend. What mattered was winning races, an instant, intuitive thing, a passion to beat everyone now, today. Planning a Grand Prix season like a military campaign, calculating gains here, losses there, was not Villeneuve's style.

The loss of any great racing driver is a blow to the sport, but Gilles Villeneuve was so much more than that. Those who knew him well liked him enormously, but beyond that there was something of the man which touched fans across the world. There has never, in my experience, been adulation and love for a racing driver such as that for Gilles. Wherever the circuit, the response of the public, as he drove round on the warm-up lap, was instinctive. The mystique of Ferrari helped, of course, but it went further than that. People sensed that, with Gilles, the impossible could happen. There was a crackle of excitement in the air. He would take an inferior chassis, demand of it more than it had to give, and thus we had the Villeneuve style. Genius can never be hidden. He was the best of his generation, and stands comparison with anyone in the history of the sport.

Gilles was a good friend of mine, and I find this task extremely distressing. Quite apart from his superlative ability in a race car, he was a charming man, who never changed with fame and fortune. Polite, honest, and straightforward, he had a tremendous sense of humour and a simple love of life. His attitude to motor racing was unfashionably romantic. In a bland, commercial, world, he loved it for its sake. The jet set made him cringe, and he had an instinctive abhorrence of anything bogus. For me, and, I suspect, many thousands of others, the light has gone out in motor racing.

To his wife, Joanne, their children, Jacques and Melanie, to his family and countless friends, to Mauro Forghieri and everyone in the Ferrari team, we offer our deepest sympathies. Their grief is shared across the world.

NSR

AUTOSPORT, MAY 13, 1982