Jacques Villeneuve (racing driver, born 1953)

This article is about the elder racing driver named Jacques Villeneuve. For his nephew, the 1995 CART champion and 1997 Formula One World Champion, seeJacques Villeneuve.

Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve taking part in a Formula 1600 race supporting the2015 Canadian Grand Prix.
Born	Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve (1953-11-04)4 November 1953 Berthierville,Quebec,Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Relatives	Gilles Villeneuve(brother) Jacques Villeneuve(nephew)
Formula OneWorld Championship career
Active years	1981,1983
Teams	Arrows,RAM
Entries	3 (0 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1981 Canadian Grand Prix
Last entry	1983 Canadian Grand Prix
1983position	NC (0 points)

Jacques-Joseph Villeneuve(born November 4, 1953) is aCanadianracing driver. He is the younger brother of the lateGilles Villeneuve,and uncle toJacques Villeneuve,the1997Formula OneWorld 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 inFormula Atlantic,CART,Can-Am,snowmobileracing andFormula One,and remains a revered figure in Canadian motorsport circles. Villeneuve was the first three-time winner of theWorld Championship Snowmobile Derby.

Career

Villeneuve started out racing snowmobiles and he has continued to race in snowmobile events throughout his career. He moved intosaloonracing in Canada, winning aHonda Civicseries and many races from 1976 to 1978. He then stepped up to the open-wheelerFormula Fordcategory, and then Formula Atlantic, where he took Rookie of the Year in 1979, then consecutive titles in 1980 and 1981. He also won theWorld Championship Snowmobile Derbyin 1980. At the end of 1981, he took a pair of drives for theArrowsFormula One team, but failed to qualify for theCanadian Grand Prix,or theCaesars Palace Grand Prix.

In 1979, he competed in theCannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dashin 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.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 aRAMfor the1983 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 198324 Hours of Le Mans.

1984 saw a return to CART, with Villeneuve ranking 15th overall, having taken pole position at thePhoenixround. The following year, he became the first Canadian to win a CART race, taking victory in the wet/dry race atRoad Americaon 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 theIndianapolis 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) andIMSA.

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.On February 16, 2013, having recovered and returned to racing, Villeneuve suffered another serious accident whilst competing inValcourt,sustaining a leg injury.He left hospital ten days later.

"Uncle" Jacques Villeneuve was inducted into theCanadian Motorsport Hall of Famein 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	ArrowsA3	CosworthV8	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 RAM01	CosworthV8	BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL	DET	CAN DNQ	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	EUR	RSA	NC	0
Sources:

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	Ref
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 Wth	MIL	POR 6	MEA 15	CLE 9	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN 8	MIS2	PHX2 9	LS 24	LVG 15		16th	30
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
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
1992	Arciero Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MIS	CLE 22	ROA 22	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS		52nd	0
Sources:

Le Mans 24 Hours results

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

See also

• List of Canadians in Champ Car

References

• Hughes, M. 1998.The Other (quicker) Jacques Villeneuve.Motor Sport, October 1998.

External links

• Comprehensive Biography at f1rejects
• Stats F1 Jacques Sr Villeneuve
• F1 Total Jacques Villeneuve Sr.Archived2005-12-01 at theWayback Machine
• Chequered Flag Motorsport's Profile of "the other Jacques Villeneuve"
• Nigel Roebuck about Jacques Villeneuve (subscription needed)