Oct 8, 1978

[Inigo Montoya]

Gilles wins in a Ferrari in Canada, Trudeau hands him the trophy, and I am forever hooked on this sport...

RIP Gilles

[Sato san]

now there is a LEGEND !

[Tye]

Sato san,

now there is a LEGEND!

I couldn't agree more.And in the case of Gilles,the legend lives!

Motorsport November 1978

I've taken a few paragraphs from the race report from the magazine above.

One week after the United States GP took place at Watkins Glen,the Grand Prix circus arrived to "pitch tent" in the new surroundings of the Ile Notre-Dame circuit,an artificial road course made up of access roads round a small island in the St.Lawrence River,a stone's throw from the centre of Montreal.This was the third venue for the Canadian race since its inclusion in the World Championship series 11 years ago,most of the races taking place at the Mosport Park circuit not far from Toronto.Twice the race was held at the St.Jovite circuit,north of Montreal,but since 1971 it has been at Mosport with a gap in 1975 when there was an arguement between the teams and the organizers.The teams returned to Mosport in 1976 and 77,but it was becoming clear that the discord was fast developing between competitors and circuit owners,so this year the race moved to Montreal.

Although the track dried out for the final hour of practice on Saturday afternoon,there was a biting cold wind and threat of snow from the north.Villeneuve set the pace in that final hour,recording a 1min.38.230 sec. in the Ferrari and it looked for a long time as though it would be quick enough to take pole position.But Jody Scheckter got himself well wound up in his Wolf to record a 1min.38.026 sec. and then Jarier eclipsed both of them with a stupendous 1min.38.015 sec. which left people wondering just what sort of "magic machine" Chapman had evolved in the Lotus 79.Villeneuve would start third on the grid.

Thankfully,race morning dawned dry and blustery which was a good omen for the thousands of French-Canadian enthusiasts who poured into the circuit to cheer their hero Villeneuve.

Jarier had led most of the race with Jones second,Scheckter third,and Villeneuve fourth.Jones had slipped down to fourth after a slow puncture was causing him to lose tyre pressure.After 20 laps,the order was Jarier,Scheckter,Villeneuve,Jones and Reutemann.Jarier had an oil leak problem and retired to the pits on lap 49.

Thus,with 21 laps to go,Gilles Villeneuve was leading his home Grand Prix and the crowds went wild with excitement and delight.It would have been so easy for the young French-Canadian driver to get over-excited in such a situation and perhaps throw the whole thing away by clipping a wheel against one of the many guard-rails that line the circuit.But,as he proved at Long Beach and Monza,Villeneuve is a very cool customer indeed and doesn't easily become flustered.He held himself carefully in check for the remainder of the race and came home to take the chequered flag,a delighted and satisfied winner of his home Grand Prix.

After Villeneuve led the field for half the Long Beach race,DSJ commented in "Reflections in a Side Street" that "He'll learn and he'll win".That's exactly what the young French-Canadian driver proved in front of his home crowd at Montreal.Such is progress.- A.H.

Tye

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Sato san
now there is a LEGEND !

you are so right, but also:

now there is a Ferrari driver.

[f1manoz]

Sato San put it best. Legend.

Pity that drivers of today cannot match him in any way.

[senna12]

Teddy Mayer and McLaren did not realize what they had!!





After the British GP of 1977;


"I could not understand why Mayer changed his mind. I could not work out why I should suffer this backward step. My morale took a serious blow."


"Enzo Ferrari himself called me and said, 'Are you ready to drive for us?' And I said 'Of course I'm ready!'"


...........Gilles (1977)

[Liz]

Thank you for that excerpt. Even reading the names of those great drivers made me long for the days when men were men and cars were cars and racing was about which was the master!

St. Gilles will live forever as the perfect example of what a racing driver and a sportsman should be. If he were alive today he'd be driving Rally. Formula One would not attract his attention at all. Can you imagine someone saying to Gilles, "We'll give you a contract that guarantees you will win"? He'd laugh in their faces.

[Jordi]

I wish I had been born then... Sadly I was born three years after his death in Zolder.

Thankfully videos and photos exist... he's a true legend!

And yes, Liz, he should be a saint and appear in all calendars! Saint Gilles!

[zootv]

Originally posted by Jordi
I wish I had been born then...

I have the same problem.... I was born just five months later... :-)

[ASCII Man]

I was born a year later in the same hospital where Gilles died... Gives me the chills down my spine...