Villeneuve looking forward to Montreal

Jacques Villeneuve is looking forward to his home race in Canada, Montreal next weekend, a place he loves being in. Although the race at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve, named after his father, has not been lucky for BAR the last two years, ...

Jacques Villeneuve is looking forward to his home race in Canada, Montreal next weekend, a place he loves being in. Although the race at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve, named after his father, has not been lucky for BAR the last two years, Villeneuve believes the team were on the pace.

Jacques Villeneuve.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

"Normally we've been competitive in Montreal," he said. "It's just the races didn't turn out well. At least we were competitive, so I can actually look forward to going there." He denies that he tries too hard to impress his home fans: "Are you crazy? When you try to put a show on you end up hitting the barrier and looking more stupid."

Montreal is one of Villeneuve's favourite places: "I love actually being in Montreal itself. I love the town, I love the people and it's always great to be back home. It's definitely my favourite town. The people are great - very open, very friendly and there's a good mood. People enjoy going out and are happy about being alive and living."

Jacques Villeneuve.

Photo by British American Racing.

"That atmosphere comes out and it's great. There are two good places to go; Le Plateau and downtown. Le Plateau is Rue St Laurent and Rue St Denis, all that area, which is the younger, French-style crowd. Downtown area is maybe slightly more English."

Many Formula One drivers might be mobbed at a race in their own country but Villeneuve commented that outside of a race week, which naturally draws more attention, the people are respectful of his privacy.

"Well, during the race week it's a little bit difficult," he said. "During the rest of the year people do recognise me, but at the same time it's one of the countries where they are the most respectful, somehow. They don't want to invade you or jump on top of you as happens in other countries. They'll come up and make a discreet, nice comment instead of pointing the finger and shouting so everybody turns around. There's a difference."