Jacques Villeneuve (racing driver, born 1953)

Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve also known as Jacquo or Uncle Jacques (in French L'oncle Jacques) (born November 4, 1953) is a Canadian racer. He is the younger brother of the late Gilles Villeneuve, and uncle to Jacques Villeneuve (1997 F1 world champion). He was born in the small town of Berthierville, Quebec, Canada. He is now frequently known as Uncle Jacques because of the rise of his nephew. He 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]

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
Born (1953-11-04) 4 November 1953
Berthierville, Quebec, Canada
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Canadian
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)

Career

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

Complete Formula One results

(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

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

CART
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
1982 Jamieson Racing
PHX1
ATL
MIL
CLE
MIS1
MIL
POC
RIV
ROA
MIS2
PHX2
14		 45th 1
1984 Canadian Tire Racing
LBH
6
PHX1
13
INDY
DNS
MIL
POR
6
MEA
15
CLE
9
MIS1
ROA
POC
MDO
SAN
8
MIS2
PHX2
9
LS
Ret
LVG
Ret		 16th 30
1985 Canadian Tire Racing
LBH
7
INDY
DNQ
MIL
Ret
POR
Ret
MEA
Ret
CLE
4
MIS1
ROA
1
POC
MDO
3
SAN
Ret
MIS2
LS
Ret
PHX
13
MIA
Ret		 8th 54
1986 Hemelgarn Racing
PHX1
LBH
8
INDY
Ret
MIL
15
POR
5
MEA
5
CLE
Ret
TOR
Ret
MIS1
POC
MDO
11
SAN
Ret
MIS2
ROA
10
LS
Ret
PHX2
Ret
MIA
6		 15th 38
1992 Arciero Racing
SRF
PHX
LBH
INDY
DET
POR
MIL
NHA
TOR
MIS
CLE
Ret
ROA
Ret
VAN
MDO
NAZ
LS		 52nd 0
gollark: Well, #terra-bad lasted a whole 5 seconds or so.
gollark: ...
gollark: <@!202992030685724675> no u
gollark: I can manage as many as two tasks at once with heavy context switching.
gollark: There *are* teleporters in this pack, though they are very expensive.

See also

References
  • Hughes, M. 1998. The Other (quicker) Jacques Villeneuve. Motor Sport, October 1998.
  1. 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.
  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.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tom Gloy		 North American Formula Atlantic Champion
1980–1981		 Succeeded by
Dave McMillan
Preceded by
Al Unser, Jr.		 Can-Am Champion
1983		 Succeeded by
Michael Roe
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