Jacques Villeneuve, the rookie years
Jacques Villeneuve began kart racing at age 14 before progressing to open-wheel car racing in the Italian Formula 3 Championship, which he raced in between 1989 and 1991. He then tried his luck in the Toyota Atlantic Championship and finishing third in 1993. Nothing extraordinary for the son of Gilles, but great things were to come.
In 1994, (picture above, very nice helmet design, isn’t it?) Jacques progressed to the American CART series (nowadays IndyCar) with the Forsythe-Green Racing team, finishing sixth in the drivers’ standings with one victory at Road America and earning Rookie of the Year and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honours.
In the following year with the renamed Team Green, Villeneuve won four races (including the 1995 Indianapolis 500) and the Drivers’ Championship. These performances opened the door for him at Williams in F1 in 1996, and Jacques was impressive, capturing pole position on his Grand Prix debut at Melbourne, then claiming four Grand Prix victories, and becoming the first rookie runner-up in the World Drivers’ Championship, after a season long battle with teammate Damon Hill, who was crowned.
Picture below: Rookie Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) leads teammate Damon Hill in the early stages of the 1996 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, held at Melbourne.
