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 Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

, the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been 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 A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974, and again from 1977 to 1987. The Can-Am rules were deliberately simple and placed few limits on the entries. This led to a wide variet ...

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

racing and

, and remains a revered figure in Canadian motorsport circles. Villeneuve was the first three-time winner of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby.Eagle River Snowmobile Derby - Rich In History
; 2005; World Championship Snowmobile Derby; Retrieved November 19, 2007

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 The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/Honda City, City and Honda Accord in Honda's global passenger car line-up. The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 ...

series and many races from 1976 to 1978. He then stepped up to the open-wheeler

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

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 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. 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 Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

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 The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. 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 Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

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 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, 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 The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

. 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 in Valcourt, sustaining a leg injury. He left hospital ten days later. "Uncle" Jacques Villeneuve was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2001.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

( key)

American open–wheel racing results

( key)

CART

Le Mans 24 Hours results

References

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

External links

Comprehensive Biography at f1rejects.comStats F1 Jacques Sr Villeneuve

F1 Total.com Jacques Villeneuve Sr.

Chequered Flag Motorsport's Profile of "the other Jacques Villeneuve"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villeneuve, Jacques racing driver, born 1953 Racing drivers from Quebec 1953 births Canadian Formula One drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Living people International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Arrows Formula One drivers RAM Racing Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Can Am drivers Sportspeople from Centre-du-Québec Snowmobile racers Canadian racing drivers