DAYTONA BEACH | Some would say that having a child could make racing drivers change the way they behave on the track. This is certainly not the case with Jacques Villeneuve.
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At 50, the 1997 Formula 1 world champion still has the sacred fire. Without this passion, he would never have accepted this invitation to take part in the famous Daytona 500 Mile event.
Despite his venerable age (he is the second oldest registered this year at Daytona after Greg Biffle), the physique is holding up.
“I’ve been running for 30 years and I don’t see any change except for some back pain sometimes,” he said in an interview with the Journal. I’ve always been told that at 45, you’re going to get tired. So I don’t feel any difference. I raced in the NASCAR series in Europe [et gagné une épreuve l’an dernier]. So why give up?
“When my body doesn’t follow anymore and I realize it’s too taxing, I’m going to hang up my helmet. If I also realize that the risk taking is too high, I will stop. But that day has not yet arrived. »
Well surrounded in Daytona
For once, his two oldest children, Jules and Joakim, accompany their father on a racing circuit. They are accompanied by the very last (and his fifth boy), Gilles, born just two weeks ago, given to him by Marra, his new partner who also made the trip to Florida.
This notion of risk came up a few times during our conversation.
“Risk is part of the race,” explains Villeneuve. When you come to a corner that requires you to roll your foot to the floor, you do it, because it can make a difference. Running is my job, he continues. When I sit in the car, I don’t think of the children and it shouldn’t be. I have no reason to slow down. Returned to the fifth [enfant]I would have changed my way of behaving long before.
“I’m very alive when I have a steering wheel in my hands,” he says. And I don’t feel like I’m taking any chances in a race car.
“As long as I’m happy doing my job, I don’t see the end of my career. But, on the other hand, I wouldn’t jump off rocks on skis…”
“Life is dangerous”
He was obviously reminded that he was playing a dangerous sport, even though safety has come a long way over the years. Pilots are never safe from serious accidents. Remember Ryan Newman’s terrifying swerve two years ago right here in Daytona. We are talking about a real miracle.
“Yes, it’s true, retorts Villeneuve, but life is dangerous. If you start thinking that way, you might as well stay home and not come out.
“Running is more dangerous than a walk in the park, but we are still under control and partly in control of our destiny. It’s up to us to decode, as a pilot, the amount of risk to take. »