Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Gilles Villeneuve, Gordon Smiley, and me

We all, or many of us, have our memories of this day 31 years ago when Canada and the world lost Gilles Villeneuve.

It was May 8, 1982, and Gilles – still seething with anger at the double cross performed by Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi at the previous Grand Prix at Imola – was on it, as he always was, in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder when he collided with Jochen Mass’s car.

And then it was over.

I can still hear my wife, a few moments after 5 o’clock that Saturday afternoon, yell these words down the stairs to where I was in the cellar: "Villeneuve! Fighting for his life."

She’d heard the news on the radio but there were no other details. No Internet in those days, we had to wait till 6 o’clock for the next CBC Radio news update and I couldn’t believe that the accident wasn’t the first item. (Some things never change.)

By 11 p.m., he was dead and it led the TV news. And then his story dominated the airwaves and the front pages of the newspapers until his funeral in the week that followed (click here).

I was crushed when I heard those five horrible words that my wife had called out to me, for several reasons. I’d been in my rec room that day, going over a checklist in anticipation of my debut the following weekend as a driver of supermodified racing cars at New York’s Oswego Speedway. I’d had some experience in less-powerful oval race cars, and had done a season of formula car racing, but I’d never been pushed off in as powerful a racing machine as a supermodified and I was apprehensive.

So, as well as being destroyed by the initial news that my hero had been grievously injured, my faith in my own existence was shaken. I started wondering if I was doing the right thing.

All weekend and into the week of the funeral, I was thinking (and you’ve heard this sort of thing from professional drivers after someone of the talent and stature of, say, a Jim Clark or an Ayrton Senna dies by racing accident), "If it can happen to Gilles, it can happen to anybody."

I thought about that, a lot.

But I’d pushed those thoughts aside by the time the following Saturday arrived. It was May 15. I was in the pits at Oswego and just about ready to strap into the car for my first warmup session when the late Mike Stone, a race driver from Toronto, walked up to me and said these words:

"Gordon Smiley just hit the wall at Indy. He never had a chance."

Smiley was trying to qualify for his third Indianapolis 500 that day and had overcorrected going into Turn 3, sending the car straight into the concrete at 200 miles an hour, destroying it and himself.

I still went out to race, but Gilles Villeneuve and Gordon Smiley were heavy on my mind and I just couldn’t bring myself to put my foot down all the way – that night, or ever.

They say all things happen for a reason.

I wonder.

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Joann Villeneuve: When Ferrari called, we thought it was a joke

STAR EXCLUSIVE:

An interview with Joann Villeneuve, by Norris McDonald

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Thirty years ago in 1982, on an awful May 8, Gilles Villeneuve was killed at the Belgian Grand Prix.

A nation mourned.

Never before (with the possible exception of Montreal Canadiens hockey star Howie Morenz), and certainly not since, has a Canadian athlete received the respect in death accorded Villeneuve. A Canadian Forces plane was dispatched to bring his body home and the service, in his hometown of Bethierville, Que., was close to a state funeral.

Thousands attended and there was blanket television coverage on the national networks. All of Canada’s prominent politicians were there and the-then prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, escorted the widow, Joann Villeneuve, into the church before sitting with Joe Clark, the opposition leader, in a remarkable show of respect.

It remains a very emotional time for many.

Last weekend, through the kindness of Michael Taylor, CEO of MultiMedia Entertainment, I was able to visit with Madame Villeneuve for part of an afternoon prior to the 40th anniversary Canadian International AutoShow Charity Gala, where she was introduced.

Joann Villeneuve, Paul Tracy and Norris McDonald at last weekend's Canadian International AutoShow 40th anniversary charity gala

Joann, who also goes by Joanna, remained in Monaco — where the family moved after her husband was contracted to race for Ferrari — until 2004 when she relocated to Montreal and went into the real-estate business. She and her oldest daughter, Melanie, now own and operate a Quebec construction company.

Here is an edited version of our conversation.

Norris McDonald: There are lots of stories about your husband — the wild driving through city streets, the antics in his helicopter, selling the house without telling you. I’d like to know what’s true and what isn’t.

For instance, the late Prof. Sid Watkins liked to tell the story of being in a car with Gilles in Sao Paulo, which he called a frightening experience, and turning to say something to you in the back seat and you were on the floor.

Joann Villeneuve: No, that’s not true. Gilles never scared me in the car. There were reasons for this. I met him when I was 16 and I grew up with him. I actually thought everybody drove like him. To me, that was normal driving.

People like to tell the story about us going from Monaco to Balogna (470 kilometres, 4 hours, 25 minutes) in two-and-a-half hours and me being scared the entire drive. The story is real, but I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I slept the whole way. I don’t know why, but I never thought it was dangerous when I was with him.

He drove like that with the kids in the car, too. It never occurred to me to tell him to slow down.

NM: What about the helicopter? Jody Scheckter says Gilles would fly normally until he saw people looking up and then he’d start to show off. True?

JV: I have to admit that he did scare me once in the helicopter.

In the south of France, you have these huge wind storms that can last for three, four days and during one of those storms he decided it would be a good idea to fly into the mountains and test the auto pilot.

So we were flying up and down and sideways and every which way and he wanted to make sure this thing would actually work. I couldn’t tell him to just pull over and let me out, so I had to sit there and endure the wind storm.

He was thrilled. He said, “I got you to be scared once.”

NM: And what about selling the house (Villeneuve was racing snowmobiles at the time and had yet to start racing cars)?

JV: That one is true. He walked in one day — we were living in a mobile home — and told me we were moving. I said why?

“I sold the house,” he said. Why did you sell the house? “Because I had to buy a race car.”

We’d been married for three years. He was an impulsive person in everything he did. He didn’t think about the ramifications. He’d make a decision and he’d go through with it and see what happened after. He lived in the present.

We spent a few months with his parents and a few with my parents and then we got a small apartment in Berthierville. We moved a lot. But then we got the camper and we moved around the States and Canada a lot with that.

That was a very happy time. I loved the camper. I loved living in it. There were the two of us and the two kids (son Jacques and Melanie) and the German shepherd.

NM: But then you, as a family, got lucky. Really lucky. Gilles won the Atlantic race at Trois Rivieres in 1976, James Hunt went back to Europe raving about his talent, he makes one start for McLaren at the 1977 British Grand Prix and then he signs to race with Ferrari. This is rags-to-riches stuff.

JV: I think that when you live it, it’s different because you work so hard to get there and then once you are there it doesn’t seem that special; it just seems like a lot of hard work, dedication and determination has been rewarded.

But it was a big change for us, a nice change. You could relax about having enough money for groceries. The house was nicer.

But he was who he was. He never changed. Even when we were living in Monaco, in the garage he would rebuild the engine of the Bronco. We changed as a family, though, in that when you live in a place like Monaco, and you don’t have to worry about the next paycheque, life becomes easier. Your worries are different. Your outlook on tomorrow is much happier.

NM: We all know the stories, but from your perspective, how did it happen? How did Gilles get to Ferrari?

JV: What happened was that James Hunt went back to (McLaren boss) Teddy (Mayer) and said, “You have to pick this kid up.” Gilles went to England for the British Grand Prix on his own — we still had to count our pennies and I couldn’t afford to go.

He was supposed to do three races with McLaren, but they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain — there are always loopholes, you know — and Enzo (Ferrari) got wind that they weren’t keeping Gilles, so Enzo called Gilles and asked if he was available. He had seen Gilles on TV — he never went to the race tracks — and he said he really wanted this guy.

When we got the call, we thought it was a joke. Even in your wildest dreams, you never think that Ferrari is going to call. You say, “Oh, yeah — sure.”

I just gave the phone to Gilles and he started talking and after awhile, he realized it was probably the real thing. Even at that, when they asked him if he would go over to Italy to discuss a contract, it was still a matter of we were iffy that it was for real. But then they said, “We’ll send you the plane tickets,” and this and that and whatnot. It was then that we knew it was for real.

NM: You mentioned James Hunt. He was always on the prowl. Nowadays there are some who say he suffered from sex addiction. Did he ever make a pass at you?

JV: (laughs) If he did, I didn’t notice!

NM: You met Mr. Ferrari. What was he like? He seemed to be this gruff, demanding guy, pulling the strings of his puppets.

JV: He was that, but he was also a very nice guy. But very, very demanding. (Mauro) Forghieri (Ferrari designer and sometimes-team manager) would call after a race and say “We came first and second,” and Ferrari would say, “And the spare? How did the spare car do?”

But he had a wonderful sense of humour. He was a very special man, very particular, very impressive.

NM: When Gilles started racing in F1, did you go to the races or stay home with the children?

JV: I went, but I didn’t just sit there. I was involved in the timing — I was actually working at the race track. It becomes your world. But in those days, in the beginning, there were none of the amenities everyone enjoys today.

If it was cold, or raining, you would try to find some place warm. I would try to find a tire they just took off one of the cars. It would still be warm and I could sit on it and have a sandwich.

That was the first year. After that, they started to bring along a cook who would make the most fantastic pasta and slowly it started to get more organized, more comfortable. And they had to do that because the mechanics would arrive at six in the morning and work until midnight and they hadn’t eaten all day. So that was a good thing.

In all, I missed maybe five or six F1 races. We hadn’t found a babysitter, or something like that. I liked being part of the team because I got to listen in to the engineers and the mechanics and I thought that was fun and you got to know the sport, how the cars work. You get involved in it so you’re not bored for 12 hours out of your day.

Gilles was obviously the kind of guy who would fly in, land, go to the hotel, go to the race track, go to the hotel, go to the race track, back to the airport. That was his idea of visiting a country. We weren’t tourists because it was his job and the kids were at home and we had to leave quickly.

One year, I flew in and out of America — the Long Beach, Brazil and Argentina races were all within a month — and I flew back and forth to Europe. I flew on the Concorde and wasn’t that a beautiful plane?

NM: Let’s switch for awhile to Jacques Villeneuve, your son, who is the only Canadian racing driver to win the world championship. Were you there? Did you go to his races? Were you nervous, considering what happened to your husband?

JV: Oh, yes. I was nervous. But it was difficult for me to say to him that you can’t do that when his father had done it. It’s like a smoker saying to a kid you can’t smoke. It didn’t make sense to me and I just thought that whatever the destiny of someone is, they will eventually do it so just be there and help.

No, I was not there when he won the championship; in fact, I went to very few of his (F1) races. When he was in Formula 3, I drove him around everywhere because in Europe you have to be 18 to drive on the road and he wasn’t, so I had to take him. He could race but he couldn’t drive on the highway.

I went around Italy with him for two years but after that I think he needed the separation because it was hard for him to be Gilles’s son and, when I was there, there was added pressure — not from me but from the people.

I am very proud of what he accomplished. When he drove in CART and won the Indy 500 while driving for Barry Green’s team, it was a very well-run operation. And he won the championship at Williams.

The end of his Formula One career was a bit . . . difficult. It was not all of his own doing. When it’s your own doing, you adjust. When it isn’t your own doing. . . . He stayed loyal to people for quite awhile that maybe he should not have stayed loyal to.

NM: Legendary motorsport journalist Nigel Roebuck wrote recently that Gilles would most likely have gone from Ferrari to McLaren in 1983. Is he correct?

JV: Because of what happened (when teammate Didier Pironi disobeyed team orders and passed him for the win at the San Marino Grand Prix, the race that preceded Belgium), that was it for him, as far as he was concerned. Gilles was a very straightforward and honest guy; a shaking of hands was a contract to him. So when what happened happened, it was just this huge disappointment and in his mind, I think it was, “I’ve got to get out of this,” for no other reason than he was such an honest person and what happened was crushing.

NM: Roebuck has suggested McLaren had made overtures to Gilles before the San Marino race. He entertained some of us at the Canadian Grand Prix in June with a story about contract details and money being shown to Gilles on a pit board as he drove past in his Ferrari.

JV: I’m not sure about that specifically, but it rings a bell. There was something but it’s very vague in my mind. But there was something like that. We also had a family friend who travelled with us often during that period, who got on well with the people at McLaren. I know they were sending Gilles information through him so that Ferrari wouldn’t find out what was happening.

NM: When Gilles died, there are suggestions that you didn’t get much support from Ferrari.

JV: No, I got a lot of support. I don’t think they would have done as much for anyone else. It shocked a lot of people at Ferrari and I know it hurt Mr. Ferrari deeply.

But Enzo being Enzo, he had a very peculiar way of doing things. It wasn’t like, “Come over every weekend,” but I heard from him regularly for a long time afterward. He wanted to make sure things were being taken care of, being looked after. And I got Christmas cards for years.

Earlier this year, to mark the 30th anniversary, I was invited to the Fiorano Circuit (near Maranello), as was Jacques, who drove his father’s car that day, and all of Gilles’ mechanics came back to prepare the car. One of the gentlemen, who is 84 now, got in the car to rev the engine to warm it up. You could see the emotion in their faces and in their eyes. All those who are still living were there. You realized that Gilles was a very special person to them.

NM: Are you still a fan?

JV: To this day, I love the sport. I watch every race. I get up early in the morning to watch F1 live. I think Alonso deserves the championship this season because he’s raced consistently; Vettel has just been so lucky. Alonso has been making the car fast while Vettel has a fast car and that’s the difference.

I watch NASCAR, I watch the IndyCar Series. I watch all kinds of racing. My youngest daughter said to me once, “Mom, your perfect day is Formula One in the morning, NASCAR in the afternoon and IndyCar in the evening. You are worse than any guy.”

NM: Would you do it all again?

JV: Oh, yeah.

In every case, there are always good parts, bad parts. But I have no regrets. Gilles loved racing cars. He loved it so much.

From the beginning, he would race whatever was available. He didn’t have anybody questioning him about what he was doing. When you’re 16 and madly in love, and you just follow along, you don’t realize what you’re getting yourself into.

You didn’t marry a race driver. You ended up being married to one.

On NASCAR, pit crews and the Petit Le Mans

The Delta Wing finished sixth at Road Atlanta

News and musings following a big weekend of auto racing:

Bruno Spengler, a French-born Canadian citizen from Saint-Hippolyte, Que., won the German Touring Car (DTM) Championship Sunday for BMW.

He won the title in grand style by racing to victory in the last DTM race of the season at the Hockenheimring.

It was Spengler’s first championship. He was the good soldier for Mercedes for years and years but was never able to close the deal. He moved to BMW this season when the marque returned to the DTM after a 20-year absence and stepped right up.

The other Canadian in the field, Robert Wickens of Guelph and Toronto, retired after 20 laps. His rookie reason in touring cars was not the success that he, and his fans, had hoped for.

For complete details, click here

NASCAR Canada held a reception on Saturday at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel on King St. W. to honour the 2012 Canadian Tire Series champion, D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, the other drivers in the series, and the many officials and sponsors that make the National Championship the success that it is.

Dana Gladstone of major sponsor Canadian Tire said a few words, as did series director Brad Moran. The drinks were free and the hors d’ouvres were hot. It was very nice.

However (there’s always one or two of those, aren’t there?), when NASCAR purchased CASCAR from founder Tony Navotny in 2006, it was a big deal. Following the 2007 season, its first under the NASCAR banner, the Canadian Tire Series participants were treated to a lovely banquet at an east Toronto hotel. TSN’s Vic Rauter was the MC and all the drivers, wives, crew members and sponsors turned out for what was a really swell time.

Since then, everybody’s had to make do with an annual two-hour reception and, frankly, it’s not enough for a National Championship.

This should be a Big Deal – and it’s not.

One other thing. If I went to Florida as a representative of the media of Canada and mispronounced the names of – say – some of NASCAR’s favourite sons ("I’d like to say thanks to Bill FRANK and the FRANK family . . .") I think I’d be run out of town on a rail.

This is the fourth or fifth year that I’ve had to listen to some NASCAR executive fly up to Toronto and mangle the name of the patron saint of Canadian motorsport, Gilles Villeneuve, while mispronouncing the name of the race track in Montreal that’s named after him.

Memo to NASCAR: It’s Sir-quee Jeel Veel-noov, NOT sir-cut gil vilnuff.

You would think someone would have had the good manners to ask how to say it corrrectly by now, wouldn’t you?

Okay, enough of that.

Jim and Joel Robinson, who produce the Canadian Tire racing TV programs for TSN, were singled out for praise and they do a great job. Here’s a link to a video that’s representative of their work.

Now, the reception was rife with rumour that NASCAR is on the verge of making an announcement about either a truck series race or a Nationwide Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park next season.

One fellow "in the know" said it was a lock that the Camping World Series trucks would be the headliner at the track next May 24 long weekend.

But with the Nationwide cars out of Montreal for 2013, I still say the possibility of that race being moved to Old Mosport is very real. And the fact that a Nationwide car was practising out there in the last two weeks just adds to the intrigue.

We should know in the next week or two at the most whether one or more of NASCAR’s touring series will be at CTMP next year. Cross fingers.

Just before I wrap up the "Canadiana" portion of this column, I must say that poor James Hinchcliffe must rue the day he agreed to travel to Australia to participate in a V8 Supercar race on the Gold Coast Down Under.

They ran two races at the weekend and he didn’t finish either one of them.

Click here for a link to a video showing how his first race went. And the second one wasn't much better.

Okay, moving right along, the Daytona Beach city council has approved an application filed by International Speedway Corp. to develop some land it owns adjacent to the storied speedway as well as an application from the Daytona Speedway itself for redevelopment.

Want to take a guess what that all means?

Hint: look all around downtown Toronto and what do you see?

Condominiums.

Actually, I’m surprised they’ve waited this long. And I’m puzzled why they haven’t started down that road at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, too.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship ran its sixth Chase for the Championship race at Kansas Speedway Sunday and it was won by Matt Kenseth. For complete details, click here.

Question: Kenseth has won two of the six races in the Chase to date. Why is he in NINTH place in the standings.

Why don’t the drivers who make it into the Chase start off even, as is the case in most other sports when the playoffs start?

Why aren’t the Chase drivers scored differently in the playoffs, with winning being the only thing?

It is wrong that Brad Keselowski and Kenseth have each won two races in the six that have been run since the Chase started (Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin won the others) and yet Keselowski is in first place in the standings and Kenseth is in ninth.

Nuts.

The North American sports car season is finito. Saturday at Road Atlanta, the American Le Mans Series ran its Petit Le Mans 10-hour race and the winners were (this can get complicated):

- Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi finished first overall and first in Prototype 1 driving a Lola-Toyota.

- Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz were second overall and first in P2 in an HPD ARX-Honda.

- Alex Popow, Ryan Dalziel and Toronto’s Mark Wilkins won the Prototyep Challenge class in an Oreca-Chevrolet. They were seventh overall.

-Scott Sharp, Toni Vilander and Johannes van Overbeek were first in GT in a Ferrari Italia.

- Henrique Cisneros, Mario Farnbacher and Jakub Giermaziak won the GT Challenge class in a Porsche 911 GT3.

Muscle Milk Picket Racing won the team and drivers’ championship in the glamour-puss P1 class. Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf fought back from early-race adversity to wrap up both titles.

Now, an incident at Kansas Speedway and another at Road Atlanta illustrated perfectly this weekend why auto racing is the most complex and exciting team sport there is.

At Kansas, Jimmy Johnson’s pit crew kept him on the lead lap while doing repairs to his car after he backed it into the outside wall early in the race. He recovered to finish ninth and to score enough points to stay just seven behind Chase leader Keselowski, who finished eighth.

It took the Muscle Milk crew a little longer – an hour, actually – to repair the damage after Luhr tangled with a GT Challenge car early in the Petit Le Mans. But their expertise and effort was unparalleled on this day and they got the car back on track for the drivers to score sufficient points to wrap up the championship.

Great stuff !

And one last thing: Don Panoz’s pet, the Delta Wing project powered by Nissan, finished sixth overall in the Petit Le Mans, driven by Gunnar Jeannette and Lucas Ordonez.

You will recall that Jeanette was knocked for a loop late in the week during practice and the race car emerged a mess. Once again, it was the crew that saved the day.

They repaired and reworked the car in time for Saturday’s race – an amazing achievement.

Panoz, in an interview, said he still thinks there is an open-wheel future for the car. 

Take it to Indy next May, I say. If Andy Granatelli could get his turbine to work there in 1967, Dr. Don should be able to find a way to get the DW into the 2013 classic's qualifying line, don’tcha think?

Norris' Grand Prix blog: Hamilton, Alonson, Massa

Against a backdrop of protest that has threatened to spoil  some of the ambiance surrounding Canadian Grand Prix celebrations in downtown Montreal, McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton served notice Friday that he would be a force to be reckoned with in Sunday's F1 classic at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

 

Hamilton, who's won the Canadian GP twice in his five-year F1 career - 2007 and 2010 - was atop the time sheets at the conclusion of both practice sessions Friday in which the 24 cars and drivers prepared for an officially qualifying session Saturday afternoon that will set the field for Sunday's 2 p.m. race.

 

During the second 90-minute workout, Hamilton -- who won the world driver's championship in 2008 --  got down to a time of one-minute, 15:259 seconds (208.607 kp/h), a tick faster than second-fastest Fernando Alonso, who was in a Ferrari. His 1:15:313 was just that much faster than his teammate, Felipe Massa, who scored a 1:15:410.

 

Two-time world champion Sebastien Vettel was fourth for Red Bull-Renault, with Paul di Resta driving a Force India-Ferrari into fifth place.

 

The rest of the top ten: Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India,) Jenson Button (McLaren) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes).

 

Hamilton's quick time was well off last year's pole of 1:13:014 set by Red Bull's Vettel. But the teams and drivers were handcuffed by changing weather conditions in both sessions that went from bright sunshine to dark clouds, sometimes in a matter of minutes.

 

In fact, seconds after the second practice wrapped up, a heavy shower drenched the circuit.

 

There were two accidents -- Heikki Kovalainen crashed his Caterham mid-way through the morning session between turns four and five and Bruno Senna, nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna, lost control of his Williams-Renault in the second practice, spinning  backwards into the wall approaching the front straight.

 

Neither driver was injured; Kovalainen's car was repaired in time for him to turn 16th fastest time in the second session and Senna's will be ready by the time third and last practice rolls around on Saturday morning.

 

By the way, the usual, large, Friday crowd was in attendance and the atmosphere was festive, as it always is at Grand Prix time in Montreal.

There is a strong police and security presence at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and any organized protest would have a difficult time getting to the circuit, considering the number of roadblocks and police checks between downtown and Ilse Notre-Dame where the race is being held.

Downtown is another matter. Police again pepper-sprayed and kettled protesting students and their supporters Thursday night but organizers vowed to continue trying to disrupt Grand Prix celebrations during the weekend, particularly the Crescent Street festival that traditionally attracts thousands of participants.

JJ in NASCAR, Pastor P1 in F1, and Carroll Shelby

Saturday evening update: Jimmy Johnson won his first race of the Sprint Cup season at Darlington tonight and, by doing so, he recorded Hendrick Motorsports' 200th victory in NASCAR's premier division. Denny Hamlin was second and Tony Stewart finished third. Results

Saturday morning update: Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault) will start from pole for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for not returning to the pits after setting his time in qualifying Saturday. Fernando Alonso will start second for Ferrari and Romain Grosjean will go off third in his Lotus. Details

Earlier:

At the Toronto auto show in 2010, the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inducted the last of the automotive originals, Carroll Shelby.

He was the first inductee to be enshrined in the newly created International category to honour non-Canadians who made significant contributions to Canadian motorsport during their careers.

Shelby, of course, was instrumental in the success of the legendary Canadian Comstock Racing Team of the 1960s that so dominated Canadian road racing. The late Chuck Rathgeb was the money, Paul Cooke was team manager and chief mechanic and Eppie Wietzes was the driver.

Cooke and Wietzes were on hand that February evening, as were about 500 others, when the late Car & Driver magazine columnist David E. Davis acted as MC for the induction ceremony.

It was a grand evening and Shelby was charming. There were, of course, some mutterings of dissent that the Hall of Fame shouldn’t have started to induct "furriners" when there were still deserving Canadians to be honoured but they were outnumbered about a thousand to one and nobody paid them much attention.

When the news came Friday, though, that Shelby had died in Dallas at 89 of pneumonia, there was unanimity in the motoring community that a genius had passed, that Carroll Shelby was truly the last of the automotive originals of the 20^th Century, Mickey Thompson having preceded him.

Shelby was a good looking, swashbuckling racing driver who was forced to leave the cockpit because of a bad heart. In fact, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 before retiring as a driver and starting to build a succession of high-powered, big iron, Detroit muscle cars (AC Cobra, Shelby Mustang, et al).

In 1964, he went to Europe to take on Ferrari in their own backyard with guys like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant doing the driving. The photo at the top of this post says it all.

In 1965, he was hired by Henry Ford II to lead Ford’s effort at Le Mans with the GT40 and the team won the classic 24-hour race four years in succession starting in 1966, when it swept the podium.

Up until the end, Shelby – through his Shelby American company – continued to increase the horsepower of a succession of Mustangs, while still keeping them street legal. Two were debuted this year, at the Detroit and New York auto shows.

At his Hall of Fame induction at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Shelby said this:

"I’m just a hot-rodder. That’s all I’ve ever been is a hot-rodder. People ask me what I do and I say I make cars that are very powerful and go very fast."

Although he didn’t say so that evening, he was wont to say: "I love horsepower; the more of it, the better."

Although he suffered heart problems his whole life (operations, pills, a transplant in 1990) he delighted in consuming chili – the hotter, the better – and promoted an annual chili festival to find the latest, greatest recipe.

He also founded the Carroll Shelby Foundation in support of children needing transplants. At that induction in 2010, to raise money for the foundation and for the Hall of Fame, a 2011 Ford Shelby GT500 was auctioned off and when the bidding tapered off at a little over $100,000, he threw the black cowboy hat he’d worn up on the plane into the pot. As a result, the car (and the hat) eventually sold for $105,000.

A genius and an original, Shelby was also a character, as that little vignette shows.

It’s trite to say he’ll be missed. With his passing, there’s nobody left.

.

I must apologize for being MIA this week. After posting the salute to Gilles Villeneuve that appears below, I was simply too busy with the new job I have at the Star to do much research in order to write. I’ll do better.

They’re going to be practicing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. If you’re interested, there will be live streaming of activities at the Speedway on www.indycar.com whenever ABC or NBC isn’t on the air. So let’s just call that blanket coverage.

I’ll probably pep up for the race, but I’m in a funk over the 500 again. They are scraping to get 33 in the field, which means James Jakes (who wasn’t fast enough last year), Michel Jourdain Jr. (who hasn’t been in a car in years) and rookie Jean Alesi (no single-seat activity since 2001 and someone who has never driven on an oval before) are guaranteed starts. So I can’t get excited. Sorry.

Paul Tracy is at home and those bums are in cars and that just ain’t right.

Meantime, Danica Patrick has signed a monster deal with Coca-Cola. (Gee, I wonder why? How come they didn’t sign somebody who just has talent????) The haters will really come out of the woodwork now.

I suggest she will win a race or two this season, or early next. No, she won’t get "the call." I think she’s that good. And so does Coca-Cola.

At Darlington, meantime, she finished 12th in Friday night's Nationwide race. Joey Logano was the winner. She qualified 38th for Saturday night's Cup race. reg Biffle will start from pole.

May 8, 1982: Gilles Villeneuve, a.k.a. 'Gunfire'

On May 8, 1982, we lost Gilles Villeneuve. Photo by John Larsen/jlarsen@photograffics.com

In the late 1980s, Jack Christie of Keswick was director of Porsche Motorsport in Canada and the Rothmans Porsche Turbo Cup Series. One of his responsibilities was to work with Pirelli to develop the best possible tire for the Turbo Cup cars. One time, he travelled to the south of France with drivers Richard Laporte and Jacques Bienvenue to test at Circuit Paul Ricard. On his return, he wrote a report for Provinz magazine, the Journal of the Upper Canada Region of the Porsche Club of America, in which he described an unforgettable experience. On this day, the 30th anniversary of the death in Belgium of Gilles Villeneuve, I am reprinting a part of that story. I think you will understand why.

After the tiring flight to Marseilles, we rented a car and drove to the village of La Cadiere nestled high in the hills of the Azure region and overlooking an expanse of vineyards in the valley below. We had booked rooms at an exquisite little family owned inn called Le Hosteleri Berard. The rooms were neat and spotless, the staff friendly and the food and wine absolutely magnificent. About ten miles across on the meandering valley roads over the next ridge lay the Paul Ricard track.

It was late on a cool fall night by the time we found the hotel from the Marseilles airport and after the long flight, we were anxious to get to our beds. One by one, we were shown to our rooms. As we came to the one that I was to occupy, I noticed that it was not designated by a room number, as the others were, but instead by a small ceramic plaque by the door. The plaque displayed what appeared to be a burst of flames surrounded by intertwined vines. Below the illustration was the inscription, “Coup de Feu.”

We were up early the next morning and as I swung open the shutters of my window, I was struck breathless by the view before me. A huge red sun was rising over the far-off hills, slowly burning off the rising morning mist to reveal the patchwork quilt of the small vineyards and maze of roads in the valley below. As I watched the sun rise, a church bell rang in the distance, its sound repeating off the hills surrounding the valley. For a few moments, I was mesmerized by the view before me.

That evening, as we gathered in the lobby for dinner, I noticed a large photograph of the Ferrari Formula One team over the mantle. Madam Berard, the owner of the inn, explained to us that when the F1 series came to Paul Ricard, or if they were there testing, the Ferrari team booked the whole inn. She then proudly brought out a large photo album containing autographed pictures of Ferrari Formula One drivers from the Thirties to the present day. But, as we flipped through the pages, she spoke most fondly when we came to the picture of Gilles Villeneuve. Her eyes slowly welled up as she related her memories of Gilles, his closeness with the town and their deep sorrow at his death.

The photograph of Gilles had several lines of a personal message to Madam Berard written diagonally across the bottom, his signature, and the words “Coup de Feu.” I asked her about the phrase and she that it was his nickname and that I was staying in his room.

She went on to explain that early one evening, at the same time as a Ferrari test session at Ricard, the townspeople heard the repeating sounds of gunfire and down in the valley they could see flashes of flame snaking through the dusk towards the town. As the bursts of flame came closer and started the criss-cross rise up towards the town, the sound was recognized as that of a Ferrari, redlining in each gear, backfiring on the lifts, and with the tires screaming on the zigzag hairpins.

Finally, a red Boxer burst sideways onto the town’s cobblestoned main street and most of the village’s inhabitants watched in awe as the car flew across the narrow road and skidded to a halt in front of the inn. Out jumped a small, smiling figure. Gilles had just introduced himself to La Cadiere!

This sound spectacular was repeated every day on every Ferrari visit to Paul Ricard. On the signal of the gunfire from the valley below, the townspeople would line the main street, cheering wildly as Gilles would try to outdo each previous driving performance into the village. Over the years, the show continued, and regardless of his performance at the track, it was inconsequential to his spectacular dash through the valley towards the town. In time, many of the villagers became personal friends, considering him with great fondness as one of their own . . . a village son.

And, as these things happen, the nickname that he inherited from that first auspicious indtroduction, that which they called him, is first spoken with a smile . . . and then a reflective pause . . . Coup de Feu . . . “Gunfire.”

Gilles in flight at Watkins Glen. Photo by John Larsen/jlarsen@photograffics.com

In the late 1980s, Jack Christie of Keswick was director of Porsche Motorsport in Canada and of the Rothmans Porsche Turbo Cup Series. When he was with Porsche, one of his responsibilities was to work with Pirelli to develop the best possible tire for the Turbo Cup. One time, he travelled to the south of France with drivers Richard Laporte and Jacques Bienvenue to test at Circuit Paul Ricard. On his return, he wrote a report for Provinz magazine, the Journal of the Upper Canada Region of the Porsche Club of America, in which he described an unforgettable experience of the trip. On this day, the 30^th anniversary of the death in Belgium of Gilles Villeneuve, I am reprinting a part of that story. I think you will understand why.

.

After the tiring flight to Marseilles, we rented a car and drove to the village of La Cadiere nestled high in the hills of the Azure region and overlooking an an expanse of vineyards in the valley below. We had booked rooms at an exquisite little family owned inn called Le Hosteleri Berard. The rooms were neat and spotless, the staff friendly and the food and wine absolutely magnificent. About ten miles across on the meandering valley roads over the next ridge lay the Paul Ricard track.

It was late on a cool fall night by the time we found the hotel from the Marseilles airport and after the long flight, we were anxious to get to our beds. One by one, we were shown to our rooms. As we came to the one that I was to occupy, I noticed that it was not designated by a room number, as the others were, but instead by a small ceramic plaque by the door. The plaque displayed what appeared to be a burst of flames surrounded by intertwined vines. Below the illustration was the inscription, “Coup de Feu.”

We were up early the next morning and as I swung upen the shutters of my window I was struck breathless by the view before me. A huge red sun was rising over the far-off hills, slowly burning off the rising morning mist to reveal the pathwork qauilt of the small vineyards and maze of roads in the valley bellow. As I watched the sun rise, a church bell rang in the distance, its sound repeating off the hills surrounding the valley, For a few moments, I was mesmerized by the view before me.

That evening, as we gathered in the lobby for dinner, I noticed a larger photograph of the Ferrari Formula One team over the mantle. Madam Berard, the owner of the inn, explained to us that when the F1 series came to Paul Ricard, or if they were there testing, the Ferrari team booked the whole inn. She then proudly brought out a large photo album containing autographed pictures of Ferrari Formula One drivers from the Thirties to the present day. But, as we flipped through the pages, she poke most fondly when we came to the picture of Gilles Villeneuve. Her eyes slowly welled up as she related her memories of Gilles, his closeness with the town and their deep sorrow at his death.

The photograph of Gilles had several lines of a personal message to Madam Berard written diagonally across the bottom, his signature, and the words “Coup de Feu.” I asked her about the phrase and she that it was his nickname and that I was staying in his room.

She went on to explain that early one evening, at the same time as a Ferrari test session at Ricard, the townspeople heard the repeating sounds of gunfire and down in the valley they could see flashes of flame snaking through the dusk towards the town. As the bursts of flame came closer and started the criss-cross rise up towards the town, the sound was recognized as that of a Ferrari, redlining in each gear, backfiring on the lifts, and with the tires screaming on the zigzag hairpins.

Finally, a red (Ferrari Berlinetta) Boxer burst sideways onto the town’s cobblestoned main street and most of the village’s inhabitants watched in awe as the car flew across the narrow road and skidded to a halt in front of the inn. Out jumped a small, smiling figure. Gilles had just introduced himself to La Cadiere!

This sound spectacular was repeated every day on every Ferrari visit to Paul Ricard. On the signal of the gunfire from the valley below, the townspeople would line the main street, cheering sildly as Gilles would try to outdo each previous driving performance into the village. Over the years, the show continued, and regardless of his performance at the track, it was inconsequential to his spectacular dash through the valley towards the town. In time, many of the villagers became personal friends, considering him with great fondness as one of their own . . . a village son.

And, as these thi ngs happen, the nickname that he inherited from that first auspicious indtroduction, that which they called him, is first spoken with a smile . . . and then a reflective pause . . .Coup de Feu . . . “Gunfire.”

.