Music: {allcanada} Jacques Villeneuve to focus on NASCAR race at Montreal, possible return to Formula One in the works

Thursday, August 26, 2010

{allcanada} Jacques Villeneuve to focus on NASCAR race at Montreal, possible return to Formula One in the works

As he awaits approval as a Formula One team co-owner that could put him back in the driver's seat on that circuit, Jacques Villeneuve will try to concentrate on NASCAR this weekend as he competes at the track named for his father.

Villeneuve will be driving for Braun Racing in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as the Nationwide Series makes its annual stop at the road course in Montreal.

The 1997 Formula One champion finished fourth at Montreal last year driving for Braun. Earlier this year, he started on the outside of the front row on the road course at Road America, but an accident relegated him to 25th. He finished eighth in the Nationwide road race at Watkins Glen.

Driving in his fifth Nationwide race for Braun (he finished 16th at Montreal in 2008), Villeneuve is hoping that his experience will help him this weekend.

But he's also hoping the pending Formula One decision won't be a distraction. Villeneuve is among those who have applied to start the new team. Unlike NASCAR, Formula One has a 13-team limit (each team must field two cars the entire season), and is adding a new team to replace the U.S.-based team that never materialized for 2010. Villeneuve is a partner in one of the three finalists for the new F1 team.

"The FIA decision is pending, supposed to be by the end of the month and I really hope it won't happen during the race weekend because I just want to put my mind behind the race, just work on the race and trying to win it," said Villeneuve, who likely would drive for himself on the F1 circuit next year if his ownership group gets the team. "So I don't want to spend a weekend discussing Formula One basically and not concentrating on the NASCAR race."

Villeneuve has led seven laps in his Nationwide career, including three at Road America. Trent Owens will serve as his crew chief.

"We are starting to work well together and we have really worked hard on the road-course program car-wise, and we also are bringing different brakes for Montreal," Villeneuve said.

"It's a very demanding track, and I'm a late braker. I'm a heavy braker, which is where I make most of my time at [Road America], and even at the Glen, actually. So we are pulling out all the stops for Montreal so we can compete."

One of the biggest adjustments for open-wheel drivers is how to manage the brakes. With the Nationwide cars about twice as heavy as an open-wheel car, the braking zones are different and there is a tendency for drivers not accustomed to heavy stock cars to wear out their brakes too early.

"Brake-wise, the later you brake, the more heat gets in there and then everything starts bending, basically, so you end up with a brake pedal that gets long," Villeneuve said.

"At Watkins Glen, I was hitting the bottom of the brakes and I just couldn't brake any harder. There was nothing else to press and they get hot to the point where it just slides and it doesn't brake anymore."

Villeneuve hopes to find out soon what his racing future holds. He has been exploring NASCAR rides but is waiting to hear about his Formula One endeavor.

"NASCAR, I would be happy to race every weekend," Villeneuve said. "That would be great. I love driving, I love racing. I enjoy the racing that I've done in NASCAR [because] all of the focus is purely behind the wheel, and you can really, even when your setup is not perfect, you can find a way to drive beyond it to figure a way to still make the car go quick.

"It's tough during a whole race, but for qualifying, for some laps, you can find a way to muscle your way through, and that makes it a lot of fun. And part of the reason the F1 project started happening is also because the doors simply were not opening in NASCAR."

If he gets the Formula One team, Villeneuve likely will not have time to do many NASCAR races. He competed in the Brickyard 400 with Braun earlier this year and has been promised that if he wins Montreal, he will get to run a Nationwide oval race with the team.

"A lot will depend on what the [Formula One] decision is," Villeneuve said. "If it's a positive decision, then I'll have to be almost 100 percent available on building the team and getting the ball rolling. I'm not sure yet where we are heading. We still have to wait for the decision."