Jacques villeneuve

[fagey]

part of its on here

http://tinyurl.com/jqmnp

andy

[Andy Zarse]

That is absolutely terrific! Hope he has more to say on the subject. JV has always been honest about such matters; love him opr loathe him you have to respect that.

[Fax]

Sorry Andy, loved the old fella but JV never deserved to make it as far as he did.  Nowhere in Italian F3 and wins three races in Japanese F3, but his school teacher/manager Craig Pollack realizing that the Villeneuve name would be gold in Formula Atlantic back in North America pitches the idea of him to Forsythe Green and Players so despite having modest results in F3 ends up with the highest financed, best team in the Atlantics.  Finshes behind teamate Claude Bourbonnais in the 93 Atlantic title but still gets promoted to the Champcar team.  Drove some fine races in Champcar (again for probably the best team at the time), but against who, Mike Andretti? An old Mario&Emmo? and a completely disinterested Mansell.  Won the 97 title but has been usless in anything other than the best equipment.  The BAR debacle was embarrasing and hasn't done squat since returning to the sport.  I always thought he was more intersted in being a celebrity than being a driver.  Always had some nice trophy pussy on his arm though.  A lot like even more usless Williams ex
DC
Fax

[paultarsey]

Many years ago I went to the first day of practice for the British GP.  My chum and I decided that rather than rush home we would stop for a drink and arrived at a country club somewhere (Whittlebury perhaps?).  As is usual in country club bars, there was the old chap at the end of the bar who, whilst having no real interest in the sport, was up for a chat.

He started with "Anything good up at the track today?"
"Hah, not really" says I, pushing my way through a small group of people to get to the bar. "Although there was a new guy who was driving the third McLaren in his first ever grand prix who was outstanding . . .brilliant . . . certainly someone to watch.  His name is Gilles Villeneuve".

At this point the Head Waiter walked into the bar and up to the small group who I had elbowed out of the way and were all of five feet from me.  "Excuse me Mr. Villeneuve, your table is ready".  Gilles shot me the smile and disappeared.  Should I have been proud or embarrassed? To this day I do not know.

The Old Git.

[Radar]

Sure, JV wasn't the fastest driver out there and he could be arrogant, but at least he had some style. Montoya too.

Most of the current bunch have been scrubbed so clean they gleam and moulded into corporate mouthpieces who talk like walking press releases. Look at Rosberg Junior. He might be quick like his Dad, but isn't he just a bit dull? F1 has been sanitised and homogenised far too much - DC wasn't even allowed to grow a beard when he was at Mclaren...

Bring back JV, bring back Montoya - bring back a few of the hard living, hard drinking, hard whoring heroes of the '70s to boot.

Or just say sod F1, lets watch some guys with real balls risk their necks at Le Mans instead!

[Andy Zarse]

Fax in my book anyone who becomes world champion deserves it regardless of what car they are in and that includes JV. And even Mansell, who was an utter tosser but a magician behind the wheel.

Being ahead on points is a hell of a lot of pressure to be under. How easy is it to blow it all by making silly unforced mistakes? Better driver's than JV have cracked, but the mark of a champ is nerves of steel. We are about to see what Alonso is really made of. My money says he fends off Schumacher in the run in.

[Fax]

Hmm Andy, does that include Master James? After all you've always given me a hard time for having been a fan of the seventies icon
Agreed, he did well to win the title, no doubt about it.  When the opportunity presents itself you have to make the most of it, and he did, unlike his contemporaries DC and Eddie Irivine who dropped the ball time & again.  But since his title year almost a decade ago he's done absolutely nothing.  All of his success has come when he's had absolutely the best equipment on the grid, if not he shows no fire in the belly at all, unlike his father or uncle who fought like hell just as hard for fifteenth place as for first.  It always seemed to me, right or wrong, that he came back not because he missed racing, but because he missed the money and adulation of being a F1 driver.
Fax

[termietermite]

Anybody who came up with the line "I remember when sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous" is OK in my book!

[Andy Zarse]

Hmm Andy, does that include Master James? After all you've always given me a hard time for having been a fan of the seventies icon
Agreed, he did well to win the title, no doubt about it.  When the opportunity presents itself you have to make the most of it, and he did, unlike his contemporaries DC and Eddie Irivine who dropped the ball time & again.  But since his title year almost a decade ago he's done absolutely nothing.  All of his success has come when he's had absolutely the best equipment on the grid, if not he shows no fire in the belly at all, unlike his father or uncle who fought like hell just as hard for fifteenth place as for first.  It always seemed to me, right or wrong, that he came back not because he missed racing, but because he missed the money and adulation of being a F1 driver.
Fax

Fax the sport is littered with "one-hit-wonders", including I'm sorry to say, James, Jodi Schekter and quite a few more. I would also argue it's quite hard to find a world champion who didn't have absolutely the best equipment. Not Prost or Senna. Not your beloved James, and would he have won the title anyway if it wasn't for a certain crash at the 'Ring? Not Mario or Emo either, those Lotuses were amazing. Maybe Schumacher in 95, was the Benetton Ford really that much better than the Williams of Hill?

JV certainly wouldn't be the last person to stay in a sport after their sell-by date for the money. And I still think his comments on Schumacher are totally bang on the nail.

[Radar]

What about Rosberg senior in '82? Cossie powered Williams up against turbo opposition? Not the best car, but superb driving.

[Fax]

Well thought Radar, Keke did a amazing job in '82, but it was a year of of bindingly quick but horrendously unreliable Renaults and Brabham BMW's.  And of course one of the Ferrari drivers should have walked the title but for GV's death at Zolder, and Pironi was leading the championship by a street when his career ended in the rain at Hockenheim.  And in some ways Wattie and McLaren threw away that title as well.  But yes, Keke was brilliant.
Andy, I think even without Niki's accident James would have taken the '76 crown.  Niki missed two races after Germany but remember James also had his Brands Hatch win chucked out, got truly screwed by the Italians at Monza and lost several races mid-season while McLaren messed around with the oil cooler location on the M23 after the Spanish width fiasco.  One could argue that Mario won the 1978 title by developing the 79 into the car that it became.  Remember when it first appeared it was a dog!  Prost won the 86 title in a inferior car to the Williams but Nelson and Nigel took turns screwing each other out of points and of course the famous blown tyre in Adelaide sealed the deal.
Fax

[Fax]

I should add that I agree with him on Schumacher though.  I've always said that I think Senna and Schumacher are the two biggest a-holes the sport's ever known.  Call me disrespectful to the dead if you like but Senna was a 100%, fully qualified, first class jerk, and Schue-boy is right there with him.
Fax

[monkey]

I should add that I agree with him on Schumacher though.  I've always said that I think Senna and Schumacher are the two biggest a-holes the sport's ever known.  Call me disrespectful to the dead if you like but Senna was a 100%, fully qualified, first class jerk, and Schue-boy is right there with him.
Fax

I am sure they would both speak very highly of you Fax, If they had ever heard of you.

I would like to say that while Senna did not interview very well he was what you might call 'focused.' And he was my (and many others I suspect) ‘favourite enemy’ I do believe that he was the greatest racing driver I have ever seen, by a country mile. He was bold, brave, unorthodox - outstanding. The sport was diminished on the May 1st 1994 and it saddens me now to think what he could have achieved and how much I would have enjoyed watching him achieve it.

[oldtimer]

I should add that I agree with him on Schumacher though.  I've always said that I think Senna and Schumacher are the two biggest a-holes the sport's ever known.  Call me disrespectful to the dead if you like but Senna was a 100%, fully qualified, first class jerk, and Schue-boy is right there with him.
Fax

Goodness Fax you really do have a low opinion of Mr Senna.  What was it that made him such a jerk do you think?  Was it his skill, his daring, his success, his money, his fame, the adoration with which his fans viewed him, the generous charity work he did for his less fortunate compatriots or was it simply that he was clearly a more eloquent and intelligent individual than you?

[Doris]

I see another fight brewing.