Villeneuve to race Le Mans

[Boorish Grobian]

Thanks KPY for setting me straight about JV, however I still suspect he's in it for the dosh rather than the thrill.
I admit to not being a fan of JV though, I've always seen him as a spoiled brat.
Regarding Mario, probably the most versatile racing driver to have ever lived.  I remember years where I'd see him racing sprint cars at Eldora one night, then a couple of weeks later see him racing a champ car at Indy, then a month see him in a F5000 car at Mid-Ohio. The guy could drive anything and win.  Blindingly quick on any type of circuit, in any kind of weather, he was a super aggressive overtaker and fearless in lapped traffic.
His lone Indy 500 win in '69 is pitiful reward for some of the dominating drives he put in there, I saw his 1987 drive at Indy where he was absolutely in a class of his own, only to be let down by fuel pump failure in the closing laps.  Most remember his F1 glory days as the high point of his career, he recalls the 1970 Sebring 12 Hours as his finest win.  Agree about his boys, and grandson.  Too much of a silver spoon in the mouth attitude.  I remember very vividly our family sitting next to Dee Ann Andretti (Mario's wife) in the Tower Terrace at Indy during the first day of qualifications for the 500 in 1973, when they announced the death of Art Pollard, who had crashed during morning warmup, there wasn't a shred of emotion from her, while the crowd went silent she continued her conversation with a friend sitting next to her as if nothing happened.  She seemed to become very hardened by her years around the sport.
Fax

[Bobblehat]

Oh dear I seem to be in agreement with Fax, what will the world come to!

I am not to worried if he is there or not realy, just as long as he is not aloud to sing

But this did make me smile on dotdotdotcomma.com
"Insiders claim, however, that Vileknave's real wish is to take the Circuit de la Sarthe's infamous Porsche Curves without lifting his right foot, thereby completing a personal hat-trick, which started with a full-throttle lap of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (easy) and continued with an attempt to take Spa's Eau Rouge flat (not quite so easy)."

[Christopher]

Autosport also claim he was considering to do the race in 2001.....

"It is not well known that he was set to race a privately-entered Audi R8 at Le Mans back in 2001 with old friend Patrick Lemarie. Today, Villeneuve says it was only talked about "between friends over a few beers," but former McLaren and Ferrari F1 driver Stefan Johansson, whose team it was, is adamant that it was going to happen. That is before Honda vetoed the plan."

Like the chap or not, rate him as a driver or not, due to the money or not, who knows, but it will still be exciting just to see what he can do against the established drivers and teams.

The whole Pug entry, the drivers and 'different' cars is one of the most exciting bits of news to come to the race in recent years.

The last time I really had a feeling of 'whats going to happen' was when Audi first turned up with the closed and open top cars to see 'which was best'.

Can't wait.

[SmithA]

Does anyone know if the pug effort similar to the bentley plan of winning in 3 years then stopping.

[neilsie]

d I still remember his incredible ride in 1994

yes the last few hours of that race were amazing!

[Andy Zarse]

Partly out of defference to his old man and partly because when he really put's his mind to it, JV can be a seriously quick driver. If he acts the prima donna, then sod him. But if he joins in with the team, works hard, drives fast and most importantly has fun and enjoys it, then i would be quite happy to see history written. So I'm keeping an open mind on this one and giving him the benefit of the doubt. The ball's in your court JV!

[mgmark]

Partly out of defference to his old man and partly because when he really put's his mind to it, JV can be a seriously quick driver. If he acts the prima donna, then sod him. But if he joins in with the team, works hard, drives fast and most importantly has fun and enjoys it, then i would be quite happy to see history written. So I'm keeping an open mind on this one and giving him the benefit of the doubt. The ball's in your court JV!

Hear Hear !!!

MG Mark

[Christopher]

Does anyone know if the pug effort similar to the bentley plan of winning in 3 years then stopping.

Not sure about winning and then stopping, but they have voiced that they are not expecting to win first time out and incidentally all six drivers have only been signed for one year (2007).

Both Audi and Pug are talking of running a bio-diesel car for 2008……so the cars may change again.