Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve Villeneuve in 2010 Nationality Canadian Born Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (1971-04-09) April 9, 1971 (age 43) Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada Championship titles 1997 Formula One World Champion 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series Champion 1995 Indianapolis 500 Winner Awards 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series Rookie of the Year 1994 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 4 races run over 3 years 2013 position 51st Best finish 51st (2013) First race 2007 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega) Last race 2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 NASCAR Xfinity Series career 9 races run over 5 years Best finish 49th (2012) First race 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal) Last race 2012 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal) Wins Top tens Poles 0 6 1 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career 7 races run over 1 year Best finish 42nd (2007) First race 2007 Smith's Las Vegas 350 (Las Vegas) Last race 2007 Ford 200 (Homestead) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series career 3 races run over 2 years Car no., team No. 24 (Erb Racing) 2013 position 43rd Best finish 33rd (2009) First race 2009 Tide 250 (St. Eustache) Last race 2013 JuliaWine.com 100 (Trois-Rivieres) Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0 Formula One World Championship career Active years 1996–2006 Teams Williams, BAR, Renault, Sauber, BMW Sauber Races 165 (164 starts) Championships 1 (1997) Wins 11 Podiums 23 Career points 235 Pole positions 13 Fastest laps 9 First race 1996 Australian Grand Prix First win 1996 European Grand Prix Last win 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix Last race 2006 German Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 2007–2008 Teams Peugeot Best finish 2nd (2008) Class wins 0 IndyCar Series career 1 race run over 1 year First race 2014 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0 Champ Car career 33 races run over 2 years Years active 1994–1995 Best finish 1st (1995) First race 1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix (Surfers Paradise) Last race 1995 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca) First win 1994 Texaco/Havoline 200 (Road America) Last win 1995 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland (Cleveland) Wins Podiums Poles 5 10 6 Statistics current as of May 25, 2014. Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, OQ (French pronunciation:  [ʒɑk vilnœv]) (born April 9, 1971), is a Canadian automobile racing driver and amateur musician. He is the son of Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle, who was also a racer. Villeneuve won the 1995 CART Championship, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 Formula One World Championship, making him only the third driver after Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi to achieve such a feat. To date, no other Canadian has won the Indianapolis 500 or the F1 Drivers' title. Following two successful years in CART, Villeneuve moved into Formula One with the front running Williams team, alongside Damon Hill. In his debut season, Villeneuve challenged Hill for the title, winning four races and taking the fight to the final round in Japan, where the Canadian retired and Hill won the title. Villeneuve, however, did win the following year's title, this time challenging Michael Schumacher and once again taking it to the final round in Jerez. In the race, the two collided, resulting in Schumacher's retirement and subsequent disqualification from the 1997 World Championship, with Villeneuve going on to take third place in the race, and the overall title. 1997 would be the last year in which Villeneuve would win a championship level race and finish the season in the top three. Renault had pulled out of Formula One for 1998 and Villeneuve's Williams team had to fare with less competitive Mecachrome engines. Villeneuve moved to the newly formed British American Racing team in 1999 and stayed there for the next four seasons but, following poor results he was replaced by former British Formula Three Champion Takuma Sato. After a short run with Renault at the end of 2004, Villeneuve moved to the Sauber team for the 2005 season where he was outscored by his less experienced teammate Felipe Massa. The Sauber team were bought out by BMW for the following season and Villeneuve struggled to score points, taking seven points from eleven rounds before suffering an injury in Germany. The Canadian was replaced by Robert Kubica and soon BMW and Villeneuve parted company. Outside Formula One, Villeneuve has taken on several new careers: in sportscar racing, racing for Peugeot in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, jumping to NASCAR in August 2007 and racing as an invited driver in the Argentinian Top Race V6 series and the Australian-based International V8 Supercars Championship. As a musician, he has released an album titled Private Paradise.