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Jacques Villeneuve (racing driver, born 1953)

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This article is about the elder racing driver named Jacques Villeneuve. For his nephew, the 1995 CART champion and 1997 Formula One World Champion, see Jacques Villeneuve.
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve taking part in a Formula 1600 race supporting the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix.
Born
Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve

(1953-11-04) 4 November 1953 (age 71)
Berthierville, Quebec, Canada
NationalityCanada Canadian
RelativesGilles Villeneuve (brother)
Jacques Villeneuve (nephew)
Formula One World Championship career
Active years1981, 1983
TeamsArrows, RAM
Entries3 (0 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1981 Canadian Grand Prix
Last entry1983 Canadian Grand Prix
1983 positionNC (0 points)

Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve (born November 4, 1953) is a Canadian racing driver. He is the younger brother of the late Gilles Villeneuve, and uncle to Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One World Champion. He is sometimes called "Uncle Jacques" ("L'oncle Jacques" in French) to differentiate him from his nephew, and is also known by the nickname "Jacquo". Villeneuve had a varied motorsport career, taking in Formula Atlantic, CART, Can-Am, snowmobile racing and Formula One, and remains a revered figure in Canadian motorsport circles. Villeneuve was the first three-time winner of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby.[1]

Career

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Villeneuve started out racing snowmobiles and he has continued to race in snowmobile events throughout his career. He moved into saloon racing in Canada, winning a Honda Civic series and many races from 1976 to 1978. He then stepped up to the open-wheeler Formula Ford category, and then Formula Atlantic, where he took Rookie of the Year in 1979, then consecutive titles in 1980 and 1981. He also won the World Championship Snowmobile Derby in 1980. At the end of 1981, he took a pair of drives for the Arrows Formula One team, but failed to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix, or the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

In 1979, he competed in the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash[2] in a Porsche 928 co-piloted by John Lane (Gilles Villeneuve's sponsor and friend).

1982 started out with Villeneuve winning the World Championship Snowmobile Derby. The track was exceptionally hard caused by bitter cold, and his team set up his sled for the conditions. He took home $11,300 for his win, with cash and prizes totaling over $50,000.[1] The rest of 1982 was difficult, after his brother Gilles Villeneuve died in May. Jacques spent most of the year in Can-Am, though he would take a one-off drive in CART. 1983 saw him take the Can-Am title, as well as another Formula One drive (narrowly failing to qualify a RAM for the 1983 Canadian Grand Prix). During this period, he also kept up his snowmobiling exploits, winning a number of prestigious races, and had a one-off Sportscar drive at the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans.

1984 saw a return to CART, with Villeneuve ranking 15th overall, having taken pole position at the Phoenix round. The following year, he became the first Canadian to win a CART race, taking victory in the wet/dry race at Road America on his way to eighth overall in the standings. He became the only person to win a third World Championship Snowmobile Derby in 1986. After spending the season of CART and his only appearance in the Indianapolis 500, Villeneuve scaled back his motor racing activities, though he has regularly returned for occasional drives to CART, Formula Atlantic (winning some of these guest races) and IMSA.

He also remained highly active and successful in snowmobiling, also, branching out to powerboat racing. On January 18, 2008, Villeneuve was seriously injured in an accident during the World Championship Snowmobile race. He suffered multiple leg and pelvic fractures as a result, in addition to a spinal injury. It was estimated that it would take Villeneuve seven to nine months to recover from his injuries.[3] On February 16, 2013, having recovered and returned to racing, Villeneuve suffered another serious accident whilst competing in Valcourt, sustaining a leg injury.[4] He left hospital ten days later.[5]

"Uncle" Jacques Villeneuve was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2001.

Racing record

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Complete Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WDC Points
1981 Arrows Racing Team Arrows A3 Cosworth V8 USW BRA ARG SMR BEL MON ESP FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN
DNQ 		CPL
DNQ 		NC 0
1983 RAM Automotive Team March March RAM 01 Cosworth V8 BRA USW FRA SMR MON BEL DET CAN
DNQ 		GBR GER AUT NED ITA EUR RSA NC 0
Sources:[6][7][8]

American open–wheel racing results

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(key)

CART

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Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
1982 Jamieson Racing PHX1 ATL MIL CLE MIS1 MIL POC RIV ROA MIS2 PHX2
14 		45th 1 [9]
1984 Canadian Tire Racing LBH
6 		PHX1
13 		INDY
Wth 		MIL POR
6 		MEA
15 		CLE
9 		MIS1 ROA POC MDO SAN
8 		MIS2 PHX2
9 		LS
24 		LVG
15 		16th 30 [10]
1985 Canadian Tire Racing LBH
7 		INDY
DNQ 		MIL
22 		POR
23 		MEA
21 		CLE
4 		MIS1 ROA
1 		POC MDO
3 		SAN
11 		MIS2 LS
25 		PHX
13 		MIA
17 		8th 54 [11]
1986 Hemelgarn Racing PHX1 LBH
8 		INDY
20 		MIL
15 		POR
5 		MEA
5 		CLE
19 		TOR
24 		MIS1 POC MDO
11 		SAN
19 		MIS2 ROA
10 		LS
19 		PHX2
16 		MIA
6 		15th 38 [12]
1992 Arciero Racing SRF PHX LBH INDY DET POR MIL NHA TOR MIS CLE
22 		ROA
22 		VAN MDO NAZ LS 52nd 0 [13]
Sources:[8][14]

Le Mans 24 Hours results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1983 Switzerland Brun Motorsport Canada David Deacon
Canada Ludwig Heimrath Jr. 		Sehcar C6–Cosworth Group C 68 DNF DNF

See also

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References

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  • Hughes, M. 1998. The Other (quicker) Jacques Villeneuve. Motor Sport, October 1998.
  1. ^ a b Eagle River Snowmobile Derby - Rich In History Archived 2007-06-16 at the Wayback Machine; 2005; World Championship Snowmobile Derby; Retrieved November 19, 2007
  2. ^ "The official Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash Entrant List". Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  3. ^ "Villeneuve's uncle seriously injured". tsn.ca. 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2008-01-22. [dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Snowmobiler Jacques Villeneuve injured in race". cbc.ca. CBC.ca. 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  5. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve rentre chez lui". rds.ca (in French). Bell Média. 2013-02-27. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
  6. ^ "All championship race entries, by Jacques Villeneuve (Snr)". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve". Motor Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Jacques Sr Villeneuve – Seasons". StatsF1. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  11. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  12. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  14. ^ "Jacques Villeneuve". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by North American Formula Atlantic Champion
1980–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Can-Am Champion
1983 		Succeeded by
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