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Villeneuve motivated for success
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IMS
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2003.01.27
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The past few years
have been tough for Jacques Villeneuve. He is used to winning, but
it's been awhile since he stood on the top step of the podium.
Villeneuve won the Indianapolis 500 and
the CART championship in 1995 and then moved to Formula One with the
Williams-Renault team in 1996. In his first F1 season, he won four
Grands Prix and finished second in the points behind teammate Damon
Hill. In 1997, Villeneuve won seven races and 10 poles on his way to
becoming World Champion.
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Jacques
takes victory at Indy in 1995.
Photo: Archives
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After a lean year with
Williams in 1998, Villeneuve joined the new British American Racing
team that his good friend and manager, Craig Pollock, helped to
create. But since then, Villeneuve's best finishes have been a pair
of third places in the 2001 season.
While he hasn't been at
the front of the pack, Villeneuve never has stopped giving his best.
"You always have to
give your best," he said. "It doesn't matter what
situation you are in. And that is what I have been doing since I
joined BAR. So as soon as the car is competitive, I will be
ready."
This year's Lucky Strike
BAR-Honda, designed by the group led by new technical director Geoff
Willis, is the best car yet created by the team, Villeneuve said.
"The fact that
Geoff Willis joined and changed a lot of people in that (design)
area will make a big improvement for the team," Villeneuve
said. "The technical people are at a much higher level now than
they were before."
Villeneuve believes that
the 2003 BAR 005 chassis can be very competitive but added that
Ferrari is still out of reach.
"The aim is not to
chase Ferrari; the aim is to fight everybody else," he said.
"Ferrari will still probably be a step ahead of the rest of the
field. I believe we have made a big step forward with the car, and
now a lot of it depends on Honda. The way they were working last
season, it should be very promising for this year, as well. Ferrari
could make a worse car, but I don't think that will happen."
"The fact that this
car will be more competitive is great. Everybody in the team is
excited because they have been working for many years without going
forward, and for the first time we should get competitive, so that's
great."
This will be
Villeneuve's fifth season with BAR, and this year he has a new
teammate in Jenson Button. Both drivers have said that they will
work together to make the car go quicker, but Villeneuve has also
said he will reserve his judgment of Button until the latter has
proved himself on the track.
"Once he goes quick
on the racetrack -- that is the only way you respect another race
car driver a lot," Villeneuve said of Button.
Throughout his F1
career, Villeneuve always has been outspoken. But that is something
missing from many of the latest generation of drivers, he said.
"When I got into
F1, it was difficult to say what I thought because people would
always end up thinking that I was doing it on purpose to get an
image or a reaction," he said, "and it is easy to get
blasted for it.
"After a while I
got respected for it, and now people know if they ask a question, I
will tell them what I think. Most people who get into F1 now get in
very young, and they are being told how to be and what to be, and
they are too happy just to be in F1 to even bother saying something
that might antagonize someone."
As for the targets for
Villeneuve and Lucky Strike BAR-Honda in 2003, Villeneuve only will
be happy with podium finishes.
"Unless you are in
the top three, then you cannot be happy about being in the top six
or top 10," he said.
This is the final year
in Villeneuve's contract. The BAR team has been centered on
Villeneuve all these years, but that is something that will change,
according to team principal Dave Richards. Still, Richards believes
that Villeneuve and BAR may be together in the future.
"The team was built
around Jacques," Richards said, "and it is a different
team to what he enjoyed for the last few years. It is a team that
you will reflect on at the end of the year and say, 'That team is
going places and will be a team for the future.'
"This team has to
prove itself first. We have to get our organization and car working
effectively and prove that we are a top-challenging team - a team
that top drivers want to drive for. I believe that we will do that
during the course of this year.
"I believe that
toward the end of this year we will be the most attractive team for
Jacques to want to drive for in the future, and we will be in a
position where we are looking for the best drivers. I wouldn't be
surprised that it will end up in a natural marriage if it all goes
to plan."
No matter what happens,
Villeneuve plans to try as hard as ever this season. "I have
never lost motivation," he said. "I have always given
everything that I had, and I will until the last day of my
contract."
Villeneuve's
second-to-last race with Lucky Strike BAR-Honda under this contract
will be the fourth annual United States Grand Prix on Sept. 28 at
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He finished fourth in the inaugural
F1 race at the Brickyard and sixth in last year's event.
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