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Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion, endured a tough time Down Under in his participation to the Sucrogen Townsville 400 round of the exciting V8 Supercars series in Australia.
Villeneuve qualified 28th and last in No. 51 Pepsi Max Crew Commodore for Race 1. He retired from the race on lap 18.
On Sunday, he again qualified last but ran reasonably well in the race to arrive home in 24th place out of 28, one lap down the winner.
The former F1 driver said all weekend long that his left hand wasn't used to all of this gear shifting!
“It was a hard race but I'm very happy. I just needed to get the laps done and see how the car went and how the tires evolved between the hard and the soft. I also got to practice my starts and the start went very well. I got three or four cars off the line so that was really good, but then into braking I braked really early, I didn't want to get mixed up,” Villeneuve told the medias after Sunday's race.
“I really had a hard time on the hard tire. Our set-up worked well on the soft tire but on the hard tire I just couldn't lean on them and that was really, really, really difficult to drive, not having done that segment of the race yesterday on the hard tires,” he added.
“I figured out after 10 laps that it was going to be a hard race because the way I was sitting in the car it was like sitting in a road car and putting a pillow behind my back. So I was moving around so much I had cramps already after 10 laps, so I knew it was going to be a long day,” Villeneuve explained.
Villeneuve qualified 28th and last in No. 51 Pepsi Max Crew Commodore for Race 1. He retired from the race on lap 18.
On Sunday, he again qualified last but ran reasonably well in the race to arrive home in 24th place out of 28, one lap down the winner.
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| Photo: Australian V8 Supercars series |
The former F1 driver said all weekend long that his left hand wasn't used to all of this gear shifting!
“It was a hard race but I'm very happy. I just needed to get the laps done and see how the car went and how the tires evolved between the hard and the soft. I also got to practice my starts and the start went very well. I got three or four cars off the line so that was really good, but then into braking I braked really early, I didn't want to get mixed up,” Villeneuve told the medias after Sunday's race.
“I really had a hard time on the hard tire. Our set-up worked well on the soft tire but on the hard tire I just couldn't lean on them and that was really, really, really difficult to drive, not having done that segment of the race yesterday on the hard tires,” he added.
 |
| Photo: Australian V8 Supercars series |
“I figured out after 10 laps that it was going to be a hard race because the way I was sitting in the car it was like sitting in a road car and putting a pillow behind my back. So I was moving around so much I had cramps already after 10 laps, so I knew it was going to be a long day,” Villeneuve explained.