Motor Sports

TEMPER KILLED CURRENT CHAMP'S FATHER

by Tony Sakkis

December 27, 1996

Beware the fury of the patient man.

On May 22, 1982, Gilles Villeneuve died while trying to regain pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in Zolder. Driving his Ferrari 126C2, Villeneuve hit a slower car and catapulted over it, crash landed, and killed himself instantly.

Villeneuve, father of the IndyCar and Indy 500 Champion Jacques Villeneuve, was regarded as one of the best instinctive drivers ever. He had a passion for driving that was reckoned to be on par with any of the greats from Tazio Nuvolari and Rudy Caracciola to Ayrton Senna. He had what most regarded as a friendly temperament, though on the track he drove as if possessed.

And although he was killed in Belgium in May, the accident actually began two weeks earlier, at Imola, at the Grand Prix of San Marino.

Villeneuve was known as a man who got along well with his teammates. He had survived Jody Scheckter and Carlos Reutemann, both of whom were known for their strong will and large egos. Villeneuve had always been a strong team player and Ferrari had used him to anchor the team for several seasons.

In 1981, Didier Pironi joined Ferrari. Villeneuve was almost always faster, but Pironi was almost always postured better politically within the team. Although he finished 13th behind Villeneuve in 1981 season points (Villeneuve was 7th), Pironi seemed to make very quick inroads into Ferrari's inner circle. Still, it was Gilles who was the Ferrari standard bearer, the man whom Ferrari saw as potential World Champion.

The race at Imola had been a good battle between Rene Arnoux in the Renault Turbo and Villeneuve and Pironi in their Ferraris. Arnoux had been the fastest of the three in qualifying and was probably the favorite at mid-race. Except that he had engine problems and was forced to retire in 44th place, or at 60 laps. That left Villeneuve and Pironi -- in that order.

Ferrari had always had a policy -- a policy which was in place that day -- which stated that if the team is running 1-2 near the end of the race it must remain in that order across the stripe. During the fight with Arnoux both Ferrari drivers had used a great deal of fuel and there was a question as to whether they had enough to go the distance. Villeneuve and Pironi, running nose-to-tail, were more than a minute ahead of the Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto, so Villeneuve, seeing the "slow" signal from the pits slowed his lap times into the 1:38s per lap. Pironi passed him and began lapping at 1:35s. Villeneuve was not worried; He believed Pironi was playing to the crowd.

But as the race neared the end, Villeneuve realize that Pironi was not going to relinquish the spot. He had gained ground on the Frenchman but the Canadian could not get back around, nor did he expect to have to try. Pironi won. Villeneuve never spoke to him again.

Two weeks later in Belgium, Villeneuve, still seething, saw Pironi, for one of the few times in his career, as the faster driver, out-qualifying Villeneuve. Yet Villeneuve had to be faster. The difference was 1:16.501 to Villeneuve's 1:16.616, so late in the session, Villeneuve went out and in a final moment of poor judgment that most feel was induced by the humiliation in Imola, Villeneuve didn't lift as he came upon the slower car of Jochen Mass.

Villeneuve, who had always driven on passion anyway, let just a little too much out. He had lost his patience and his perspective, and in the end it cost him his life. It cost racing one of its brightest stars. Now that his son is a rising Grand Prix star, lets hope he didn't inherit the tendency.