| Gilles Villeneuve was and still is loved by many F1 | | | | sparks. When he reached the pits, he demanded |
| fans. He excited the fans like few other drivers | | | | the tyre be changed! At Watkins Glen in '79, the |
| have done since. Learn more about the great | | | | Friday practice session were virtually monsoon |
| man in this article. | | | | conditions but somehow Villeneuve recorded a |
| For many people, Villeneuve's classic duel against | | | | time that was a whole eleven seconds faster |
| Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979 will be remembered | | | | than anyone else. This time gap in Formula One |
| as the greatest ever battle in F1. But what | | | | terms is worth at least a quarter of a mile on the |
| "drove" the man behind the wheel and gave him | | | | road. |
| that passion? Let's learn more about the legend | | | | Villeneuve's most famous race is considered to be |
| who is Gilles Villeneuve. | | | | the greatest duel ever witnessed in F1 when he |
| Villeneuve was by today's standards a latercomer | | | | banged wheels and traded places with Rene |
| to F1, entering it in his mid to late twenties. It is | | | | Arnoux for second place in the French GP. |
| little known that he actually raced a single GP for | | | | Arnoux's quote after the race says it all: "The duel |
| the McLaren team before moving to Ferrari | | | | with Gilles is something I'll never forget. You can |
| where he would see out his remaining years. He | | | | only race like that, you know, with someone you |
| was known for his exciting and on the edge style. | | | | trust completely, and you don't meet many like |
| For instance, at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort in | | | | him. He beat me, yes and in France, but it didn't |
| 1979, he suffered a puncture of his left rear tire | | | | worry me. I knew I'd been beaten by the best |
| that saw him go off the circuit. | | | | driver in the world." |
| Most drivers would have seen this as | | | | Sadly, Gilles Villeneuve was killed in 1982 during |
| unrecoverable and abandonded the car but | | | | practice for the Belgian GP at Zolder. Several |
| Villeneuve stuck it in reverse before making his | | | | decades later his son, Jacques, would take the F1 |
| way back to the pits with the punctured tyre | | | | world championship, something that Gilles himself |
| barely hanging on and creating a huge shower of | | | | had never managed to win. |