Gilles Villeneuve

Quick Facts

Full Name	Gilles Villeneuve
Occupation	Race Car Driver
Date Of Birth	Jan 18, 1950(1950-01-18)
Age	74
Date Of Death	1982-05-08
Country	Canada
Horoscope	Capricorn

Gilles Villeneuve Biography

Gilles Villeneuve is one of the most popular and richest Race Car Driver who was born on January 18, 1950 in Canada. Formula 1 racer from Canada who was the winner of the Canadian Formula 1 racer six Grand Prix titles from 1977 until 1982. He was killed in a crash while preparing in 1982 for the Belgian Grand Prix.

He was on the team with French driver He was teammates with French driver Didier Pironi..

Villeneuve started competitive driving in local drag-racing events, entering his road car, a modified 1967 Ford Mustang. He was soon bored by this and entered the Jim Russell Racing School at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant to gain a racing licence. He then had a very successful season in Quebec regional Formula Ford, running his own two-year-old car and winning seven of the ten races he entered. The next year he progressed to Formula Atlantic, competing there for four years, running his own car again for one of those seasons. He won his first Atlantic race in 1975 at Gimli Motosport Park in heavy rain. In 1976, teamed with Chris Harrison’s Ecurie Canada and factory March race engineer Ray Wardell, he dominated the season by winning all but one of the races and taking the US and Canadian titles. He won the Canadian championship again in 1977.

Villeneuve was born to piano-tuner Seville Villeneuve and his wife Georgette (née Coupal) at Hôpital du Haut-Richelieu in Richelieu, a small town just outside Montreal, in the province of Quebec in Canada and grew up in Berthierville. In 1970, he married Joann Barthe, with whom he had two children, Jacques and Mélanie. During his early career Villeneuve took his family on the road with him in a motorhome during the racing season, a habit which he continued to some extent during his Formula One career. He often claimed to have been born in 1952. By the time he got his break in Formula One, he was already 27 years old and took two years off his age to avoid being considered too old to make it at the highest level of motorsports.

The distinctive “V” on his helmet was created for his spouse, Joann.

Gilles Villeneuve Net Worth

Gilles Villeneuve is one of the richest Race Car Driver from Canada. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Gilles Villeneuve 's net worth $10 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He obtained an official racing licence through He earned his professional racing license at the Jim Russell Racing School before joining the Formula Ford racing class. Racing School. He earned his professional racing license at the Jim Russell Racing School before joining the Formula Ford racing class. Racing School prior to entering Formula Ford. Formula Ford racing class.

He is still famous throughout Canadian culture. Canada released an official stamp bearing his portrait in 1997.

Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (French pronunciation: ​[ʒil vilnœv] ; January 18, 1950 – May 8, 1982), known as Gilles Villeneuve, was a Canadian racing driver, who spent six years in Grand Prix motor racing with Ferrari, winning six races and widespread acclaim for his performances.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Gilles Villeneuve height Not available right now. Gilles weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Gilles Villeneuve Dating?

According to our records, Gilles Villeneuve married to Joann Villeneuve. As of December 1, 2023, Gilles Villeneuve’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Gilles Villeneuve. You may help us to build the dating records for Gilles Villeneuve!

The 1978 season saw a succession of retirements for Villeneuve, often after problems with the new Michelin radial tyres. Early in the season, he started on the front row at the United States Grand Prix West, but crashed out of the lead on lap 39. Despite calls in the Italian press for him to be replaced, Ferrari persisted with him. Towards the end of the season, Villeneuve’s results improved. He finished second on the road at the Italian Grand Prix, although he was penalised a minute for jumping the start, and ran second at the United States Grand Prix before his engine failed. Finally at the season- ending Canadian Grand Prix, this time at the Circuit Notre Dame Island in Montreal (a circuit that was eventually named after him) Villeneuve scored his first Grand Prix win after Jean-Pierre Jarier’s Lotus stopped with engine trouble. To date, he remains the only Canadian to win the Canadian Grand Prix.

Facts & Trivia

Gilles Ranked on the list of most popular Race Car Driver. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Canada. Gilles Villeneuve celebrates birthday on January 18 of every year.

Villeneuve was joined by Jody Scheckter in 1979 after Carlos Reutemann moved to Lotus. Villeneuve won three races during the year and even briefly led the championship after winning back to back races in USA and South Africa. However, the season is mostly remembered for Villeneuve’s wheel-banging duel with René Arnoux in the last laps of the 1979 French Grand Prix. Arnoux passed Villeneuve for second place with three laps to go, but Villeneuve re-passed him on the next lap. On the final lap Arnoux attempted to pass Villeneuve again, and the pair ran side-by-side through the first few corners of the lap, making contact several times. Arnoux took the position but Villeneuve attempted an outside pass one corner later. The cars bumped hard, Villeneuve slid wide but then passed Arnoux on the inside at a hairpin turn and held him off for the last half of the lap to secure second place. Villeneuve commented afterwards, “I tell you, that was really fun! I thought for sure we were going to get on our heads, you know, because when you start interlocking wheels it’s very easy for one car to climb over another.” At the Dutch Grand Prix a slow puncture collapsed Villeneuve’s left rear tyre and put him off the track. He returned to the circuit and limped back to the pit lane on three wheels, losing the damaged wheel on the way. On his return to the pit lane Villeneuve insisted that the team replace the missing wheel, and had to be persuaded that the car was beyond repair. Villeneuve might have won the World Championship by ignoring team orders to beat Scheckter at the Italian Grand Prix, but chose to finish behind him, ending his own championship challenge. The pair finished first and second in the championship, with Scheckter beating Villeneuve by just four points. During the extremely wet Friday practice session for the season-ending United States Grand Prix, Villeneuve set a time variously reported to be either 9 or 11 seconds faster than any other driver. His teammate Jody Scheckter, who was second fastest, recalled that “I scared myself rigid that day. I thought I had to be quickest. Then I saw Gilles’s time and — I still don’t really understand how it was possible. Eleven seconds!”

Who did Gilles Villeneuve crash into?

Forty years ago today, Gilles Villeneuve lost his life after colliding with Jochen Mass during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. The story of his Ferrari team’s tumultuous 1982 Formula 1 season, which also included career-ending injuries for Villeneuve’s teammate Didier Pironi, has been told many times.

Is Jacques Villeneuve related to Gilles Villeneuve?

Early life. On 9 April 1971, Villeneuve was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a small town outside of Montreal in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. He is the son of snowmobile and future Ferrari racer Gilles Villeneuve and his wife Joann Barthe.

Where did Gilles Villeneuve died?

UZ Leuven Campus St. Rafael, Leuven, Belgium

Is Montreal a good F1 track?

The Bleacher Report ranks Montreal’s circuit sixth, saying that “ no circuit on the current calendar is as good at consistently producing great races.” Bleacher says overtaking is always possible on Gilles-Villeneuve and close racing is almost guaranteed.

Which F1 driver did Dannii Minogue date?

In October 1999, Minogue became engaged to 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve (son of Ferrari Formula 1 great Gilles Villeneuve), but their relationship ended in 2001.