Jacques Villeneuve to Make Return to Racing with NASCAR

1997 Formula One champion, Jacques Villeneuve has made four NASCAR Cup appearances since retiring from F1. His first two outings, came a year after his final season in F1. Since then, between 2007 and ’13, he has competed in the Trucks and Xfinity support categories.

This is the fist time that the 47-year old has taken up racing since the 2015-16 Formula E season. However, he was dropped by the Venturi Formula E team after just two races due to lack of results. His last full season of racing was in 2005 when he drove for Sauber in F1.

Recently, the Canadian tested at the Franciacorta circuit in Italy. Now, he will race in the Euro Series with the Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang outfit. The team also competes in the NASCAR Cup series.

“I had a lot of fun discovering the car because it is really similar to what I was used to in NASCAR in the US,” said Jacques Villeneuve, an Indianapolis 500 winner in 1995 and overall CART champion that year.

“You can really drive it hard and you can work a lot on the car and that’s also very nice.

“Returning full-time is what matters the most to me, because I want to be part of a complete project and have a goal for the entire season. I’m really looking forward to the first race of 2019!”

This is Go Fas’ second season in NASCAR, having joined the series last year.

The NASCAR Euro Series is normally contested over six weekends, comprising the entire season. However, as a first, a 7th event at Most has been added for 2019.

Post-retirement from Formula One, the Canadian was notorious for his ‘outlandish’ opinions. He has been a firm critic of Formula One, a few drivers and even a few teams. At one point, his former team, Williams F1, even banned him from their motorhome due to his excessive criticisms. At that time, then rookie driver, Lance Stroll was constantly at the receiving end of the criticisms and Williams were getting tired of it.