Jacques Villeneuve biography
Jacques Villeneuve, (born April 9, 1971, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Can.), Canadian race-car driver who in 1995 grew to become the primary Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 and the youngest winner of the IndyCar championship.
Villeneuve was the son of Gilles Villeneuve and the nephew of Jacques Villeneuve, each Canadian race-car drivers. He spent a lot of his early childhood touring on the racing circuit together with his mother and father, first in North America after which in Europe. His father grew to become profitable in Formula One (F1) Grand Prix racing and moved the household from Quebec to Monaco in 1978; 4 years later, nevertheless, Gilles was killed in a racing accident. Villeneuve attended boarding faculty in Switzerland for six years after which determined to turn out to be a race-car driver.
He started his racing profession on the age of 17. From 1989 to 1991 he drove on the Italian Formula Three (F3) racing circuit, after which within the 1992 season he raced F3 vehicles in Japan. There he gained three races and completed second within the general factors standing. He spent the 1993 season driving on the Formula Atlantic racing circuit in North America, profitable 5 of his 15 races there and gaining Rookie of the Year honours. In 1994 he joined the IndyCar racing circuit, inserting second within the Indianapolis 500 race and ending the season in sixth place within the general factors standing. He was additionally named Rookie of the Year. In 1995, after profitable the Indianapolis 500, he went on to win the IndyCar championship.
Villeneuve’s success resulted in his shifting to F1 racing in 1996, when he joined the Williams crew. He was the quickest qualifier in his first F1 race, and his first victory got here 4 races into the season. He completed the season second within the sequence championship. In 1997 he gained 7 of the season’s 17 races and secured the championship solely after avoiding an try by Michael Schumacher, with whom Villeneuve was competing for the title, to wreck Villeneuve out of the ultimate race of the season.
In 1998 Villeneuve had a lacklustre season with Williams, ending fifth within the championship with no wins. From 1999 by means of 2003, he drove for the noncompetitive British American Racing crew. In 2005, after a yr instead driver, he drove a full season for the Swiss-based Sauber crew, and in 2006 he accomplished a half-season earlier than being changed. He retired from F1 racing that yr.
Villeneuve subsequently turned to stock-car racing within the United States and sports-car racing in Europe. In 2008 he gained an endurance occasion in Belgium—his first main race win in additional than 10 years—and completed second general within the Le Mans 24-Hour Race.