Gilles Villeneuve Died Forty Years Ago Today

[E1pix]

Right at 50 years ago, a classmate who went to Eagle River for the World Snowmobile Championships every year raved about this scrawny French-Canadian named Gilles something-or-'nother. Not being a sled fan per se, it meant little in my preferred racing contexts. But the schoolmate knew what he'd witnessed, anyway.

Then I remembered the name when he showed up in the Pro F-Atlantic series in 1975, mostly unsupported save for some Skiroule dollars from sledding. He reportedly lived in a station wagon with his wife, with but a sole, unsupported year of Formula Ford as the only car training the year prior.

He started winning almost immediately, against big names and bigger money in much-bigger teams.

Then I finally saw this guy in Can-Am, running second in the '77 Can-Am at Road America before running out of gas on the last lap, if recalling correctly. He was in a one-off Walter Wolf car that original driver Chris Amon, of all people, called "absolutely undriveable" — before refusing to ever climb in again. To any seasoned enthusiast, it clearly was.

The next year, I'd worked my now-three-year race reporting gig to a point of getting creds at both the Glen and Montreal, the first GP held at the latter. I was told that at barely 18, I was the youngest to get one at any Canadian GP, so naturally, Media sticker on cracked windshield, on the Thursday I asked permission from a track worker "for my story"— and we ran four laps in an old, flat-black Opel wagon — and even scuffed the still-damp paint on the hairpin curbing before any F1 shoe got to.

I may well have reached 1.01g in the process.

This quickly became probably my best, or at least most-inspiring, racing weekend of my life to date. My friend and I shared an elevator ride with the Wilson sisters from Heart, we clapped and even cried with teams and drivers (Lauda, Laffite, Hunt, Regga, Stuck, more) when Mario walked into the "official," cred-only, hotel-top bar I don't even recall being old enough to drink at.

The applause was a bittersweet celebration of Mario's title, the tears for the fallen Ronnie Peterson.

Jean-Pierre Jarier replaced Ronnie, and flat-ass outran the field by a full second a lap until Lap 50. His moment, and he knew it. But when Jarier lost oil pressure, the place erupted like Vesuvius because Gilles Villeneuve was in the lead!!!

He stayed calm by his own standards and won the race, the first time a Canadian had done so. The only other to achieve this to date is his only son. Gilles has since been the favorite driver of my entire life, and that includes several friends who've done great things.

We all know what happened forty years ago. But whomever said "Time heals all wounds" must have never seen Villeneuve.

Thank You Gilles, for showing us anything, or at least many things, are indeed possible if we think they are.

[swiftdrivr]

Yes. 'impossible" wasn't a word Gilles paid much attention to.

[t walgamuth]

He might have been Enzo's favorite.

I loved him too.

[E1pix]

In 1976, one of America’s best Formula Ford racers — Marty Loft of Tacoma — got his break and moved into the pro, CASC Formula Atlantic series. He drove a new March 76B from the Doug Shierson Racing stables, alongside Bobby Rahal, Price Cobb, Chip Mead, and James King.

Sponsored by Hanna Car Washes, and with immense, continuing faith by owner Dan Hanna, there was only enough money to do the Canadian races that offset the US swing run by IMSA. Most of the fast guys also ran in the States, so Loft faced a very steep curve.

Yet Marty won at Westwood, in the wet, only his second time in the car — and by over 27 seconds from Johnny Gerber and Bertil Roos. In the end, Villeneuve won all of the 1976 CASC races, except Loft’s at Westwood, and one taken by Rahal at Mosport.

I spoke with Marty today regarding his memories of racing against Gilles Villeneuve, and especially in the toughest year in Atlantic history. In following are some of Loft’s memories.

“There was a time that I saw a film of Gilles racing snowmobiles, and I could not even believe how fast they were — and particularly Gilles! He just laughed it off and said ‘They build a strong heart for sure.’

Marty continues, “Gilles and Joann were always at the track, so it was just normal having them around — and their two kids running around all over the place like kids do. We of course had no idea what was about to come their way in just the next year, and beyond.

“The first time I raced against him was in 1975, at Westwood. A Shierson car had become available for just a single race, and it came open to me. The engine blew up halfway through, but years later when perusing some data I discovered that I’d qualified 7th, right next to Villeneuve in 8th.

“Even at that time, Gilles was mind-blowingly quick. He really had something special, and it was easy to see straight off. No matter how fast any of us qualified, right at the end of the session Gilles would casually run a couple more laps, and always pull out a few more tenths to take Pole. Somehow he could always drop time when nobody else could.

“I was immensely sad to see what happened at Zolder, and it still is all these years later. Gilles and Joann were great people, and playing a part in his incredible history is a lifelong honor for me.”

[kea]

They had bolted the safety harness through the honeycomb aluminum that the tub was made of, without large "backup" washers. Upon impact the bolts pulled through and sent him through the air to his death.

[E1pix]

I have to say I’d hoped the thread didn’t go this way.

While I prefer to remember the man’s life, I also understand wanting to know what happened. If only for accurate recording and knowledge, I trust the following links to provide worthy clarifications.

I personally accept the words of both Doug Nye and Harvey Postlethwaite over 40 years of speculation. Anyone watching the video understandably thought “belt failure” straight away, with conclusions Immediately reported. But that same video also shows poor Gilles still belted in to scrap torn from the chassis.

What Harvey quoted to Nye, and elsewhere many times since, makes perfect sense — and photo evidence exists in support.

I refer to post 6 mostly, and 14, and others in the thread::
https://forums.autosport.com/topic/7...-belts-merged/

Here’s another recounting by a second longtime and well-respected author, about three-quarters of the way down:
https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/gi...r/4789836/amp/

I prefer to not argue these points on a dedication thread. But with the searchable permanence inherent with all things online, I also find accuracy to be far more important than my personal feelings.

All that said, I respect and appreciate the intent and curiosity of the comments within this thread.

[billtebbutt]

Great pictures Eric!

I saw Gilles for the first time later that year, at my first ever F1 race at Mosport where he had his debut (although, not the best of one) with Ferrari. Even still, I was pretty impressed, and awfully proud to be Canadian.

cheers,
BT

[t walgamuth]

I was not aware of the controversy being so extensive, though I am not surprised after thinking. I remembered from back then that Gilles liked his belts in F1 nice and loose so he could move around and feel what it was doing.....perhaps even using his body weight to give the car a boost from time to time.

I watched his fatal crash many times and always felt it odd that he had come out of the car as he did. I thought perhaps it was because he was not strapped in. Ten years or so later I was talking to a fellow who lives here who told me that Gilles had not been strapped in. He was running out of time to qualify and jumped in the car and took off before they could get him strapped in.

I also assumed that folks just did not want to talk about it.

[E1pix]

Waxing on about personal memories of the Villeneuves...

Beyond Gilles for a moment, his brother Jacques raced snowmobiles until serious illness sidelined him at 60. And up to then, Jacques never really retired from racing. The desire to compete and carry on seems to be a family trait.

Jacques may have been even wilder than Gilles. At Road America in 1981, I’d brought a friend from Denver who knew little about racing, and this was his first road race experience. That Friday was our only day at the track, as we were only in the area to pick up an Autoresearch Super Vee and trailer it back to Denver on the Saturday morning.

With brats in hand, I told him of my experiences watching Gilles at the Glen and Montreal in ‘78, and in Can-Am the year before at RA, then the Atlantic cars came out. We were on the outside of 12, aka Canada Corner, and on about the third lap Jacques missed his braking point by what seemed a fair sand wedge distance and ended up on the grass within a yard of the outside rail, dirt flying everywhere and the car mostly in the air and completely out of control. Jacques fiendishly threw the Shierson March 81A back towards the tarmac and I failed to hear any hint of lifting off the throttle throughout the entire affair. Perhaps the magic was genetic after all, or the younger simply couldn’t quite escape the massive shadow he must have been under his whole career. Still, quite a site.

Two years on, a sign client called to look at his “new acquisitions” in advance of my graphics. I walked in and there sat Jacques’ two Can-Am Frisbees, fresh from winning the title and in exact Canadian Tire guise. We scheduled a day for me to do the work.

Step one was to remove all the Canadian Tire graphics, all in vinyl and needing a hair dryer. It felt so very wrong. I’m reasonably sure Jacques’ name was painted though, and over prior years I’d developed a trick with EZ-Off oven cleaner to remove hand-painted lettering.

Regardless, whatever tickling I’d had working on that car — and again in 1985 when the new owner won the title with my new red, white, and blue graphics — meant little to nothing compared to watching the Villeneuve name dissolving before my eyes for the last time on those cars. This about 18 months after Zolder.

Part of the job, Yes; name disappearing without notice, No.

It was all just so wrong.

[t walgamuth]

Okay, now we’ve degraded from a thread about a wonderful, revered driver to one about someone so crazed as to wear loose belts if even wearing belts at all.

We’re also apparently ignoring the published words of internationally-respected journalists as I’d linked, in deference to what some unknown guy claimed to you in a who-knows-what context.

I’m requesting the thread gets removed entirely. The last thing I want is Gilles Villeneuve to be re-quoted elsewhere and remembered as an irresponsible idiot.

Well done, Tom.

I did not call him anything. Those words came from you.

I am sorry that my thoughts have offended.

I have nothing but respect and love for him as a driver and person. I think his decision to not use the belts as they were designed to be used is unfortunate but I forgive him.

I think it is proof he was a good father that his son turned out well.

[E1pix]

I appreciate your thoughts and respect for who Gilles was.

Great pictures Eric!

I saw Gilles for the first time later that year, at my first ever F1 race at Mosport where he had his debut (although, not the best of one) with Ferrari. Even still, I was pretty impressed, and awfully proud to be Canadian.

cheers,
BT

What a cool thing to witness, Bill. I kind of felt it just being North American, but primarily in his first big successes coming in my home state — and twenty miles from where my wife’s maternal Grandparents lived.

But there’s no claim here, the Man was pure Canadian! We were just really pleased to live nearby.

[E1pix]

Sorry, double post.

[t walgamuth]

I looked through this thread and deleted my first reference to Gilles and his belts.

I can see there is a lot of discussion out there on the subject, most of which apparently I have not seen.

I read the comments about him liking belts loose in a reputable magazine. The comments were from someone I felt was reputable, though I cannot remember who said it. Then I leaped to my own conclusions about the accident.

I apologize for upsetting the OP and for diverting the thread.

[E1pix]

Thank You very much, that’s extremely appreciated!

I hope others here saw Gilles race, and tell us about it. That’s not something one forgets.

[t walgamuth]

I wish I had.

[Bardahl77]

Eric, in case you haven't seen this yet, it was uploaded a few days ago:

https://youtu.be/wtQPknWkvR8

[E1pix]

Thank You, totally cool!

And nice to see when current drivers care about history. It seemed Charles appreciated how safe he has it these days, too.

[JustDave]

I too saw Gilles in FAtlantics
If I recall, it snowed in Montreal the weekend Villeneuve won.
Didn't take long for them to change the date from October.

dave coughlin

[E1pix]

I think there were some flurries Dave, it rained on I think Saturday and Sunday was quite cold. I barely remember the weather to be honest, the cars must have warmed me right up. Jacques ran in the Formula Ford race, and I think either won or finished 3rd.

Edit: Jacques did win on GP weekend, but in confirming that I saw that the FF race two weeks before — an event required by FIA in advance of running a GP there, if I recall —was won by our very own Dave Weitzenhof!!!:
http://www.autocourse.ca/archives/tr...8-atlantic.htm


Unfortunately I never saw Gilles in Atlantic, but did Jacques in 1980 and ‘81 — and in Indycar 1992. A friend saw Gilles win at Road Atlanta and almost shivers when describing him in the “Bridge turn...”

That must have really been something, I did see Rahal, Cobb, Cogan and others there, and will never forget it.

Thanks for your post.

[t walgamuth]

Eric, in case you haven't seen this yet, it was uploaded a few days ago:

https://youtu.be/wtQPknWkvR8

Thanks for the video! I noted a bit of duct tape here and there and the front wing was a bit lopsided. It certainly looks as raced.!

He was dancing all over the track all the time, ....must have been tiring!

[E1pix]

I just discovered this a month or two back, 1976 Atlantic from Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and Atlantic Motorsports Park in Nova Scotia.

The sound is *very bad* but I got used to it for the incredibly-rare footage of the field trying to hang with Gilles. In the first race, 53 cars showed up (!). Interviews with Gilles, Bertil Roos, Tom Klausler, Craig Hill (the latter three the only interviews I’ve ever seen), and Bill Brack. The driver names are endless in known stature:

Do what you will with the sound, and enjoy:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ncr7UrXPU

[TimH]

.

[E1pix]

Entertaining coverage of the 1979 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

Unlike the Atlantic link I posted, Big Volume Recommended:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgj3iX...e=emb_imp_woyt

Enjoy.

[Bardahl77]

Eric, this is coincidental, just saw these on craigslist...

https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/c...477181513.html

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/for/d/deming-framed-racer-gilles-villeneuve/7479648361.html

[E1pix]

Thanks David, those are awesome!

I can’t for the life of me figure out why the car is sideways, a tire anomaly? (LOL)

No room in the bus for them, Haha, but that second one is very tempting to have a friend hang in the meantime (though shockingly cheap).

You needn’t answer here, but if you’re related to Peter in Ottawa, please give him our best!

Thanks Again!

[Bardahl77]

Nope don't know him, but I did live in Toronto in the mid-70s. :-) Got to see some great racing at Mosport!

[provamo]

saw GV finish ninth at Sanair in 1973 just beating my driver Jim Morski in our Alexis Mk.18 FF

most fun was a wild ride through the French countryside with his brother Jaques on a beer run!