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JACQUES VILLENEUVE
Biography
Despite being the son of Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques' early racing career was less than auspicious. He struggled to make an
impression in Italian Formula 3, and after three years without success his career looked at a crossroads.
When visiting the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix, Villeneuve bumped into his old skiing teacher of from school in Switerland. Craig Pollock would come to have an immense influence on Villeneuve's career in the coming years.
Pollock engineered a deal for the youngster to race in Japanese F3 for 1992, where he began to turn the corner. He took three wins and did well enough to be invited to the Trois Rivieres race back home in Canada, where his father had first made his name.
After doing well in the race, Players offered to back his challenge in the American Formula Atlantic championship for 1993. A successful year in that category was enough to convince Players to bankroll his entry into the Indycar arena for '94.
A brilliant rookie season in Indycars followed, taking in second at the Indy 500 and a win at Road America. The following season he stunned the American racing establishment by winning the Indy 500 outright and taking the championship after adding four more wins to his tally.
He signed to race for Williams for 1996 where he immediately began carving out a reputation for himself. He was on pole for his debut in
Melbourne and was soon winning again, after taking victory in his fourth race at the Nurburgring. Three more wins followed, and second place in the world championship capped a brilliant debut year in grand prix
racing.
However, it was 1997 that really made JV's reputation. Adrian Newey's Williams FW19 was the class of the field, although Villeneuve certainly made the most of his equipment. Despite Jacques taking seven wins, the championship went done to the wire in Jerez in a famous showdown with Michael Schumacher. More
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