By pitpass.com (12/06/2003)
June 12 2003

In seven attempts Lucky Strike BAR Honda's Jacques Villeneuve has only once managed to score points at the Montreal Grand Prix circuit named after his legendary father. In his 'rookie' season 1996, the French-Canadian finished second to Damon Hill while a year later - his championship winning 1997 season - the race was stopped following Olivier Panis' horrendous crash. Then again who will ever forget 1999 when Jacques together with two other World Champions - Damon and Michael - hit the wall at the start of the pit-straight, thus getting it re-named the 'champions wall'.

After several heartbreaking seasons BAR genuinely appears to be moving forward, despite the drama of Monaco, and for this reason Villeneuve is clearly more confident than usual as he heads for his 'home' race.

"We worked on the new engine for Montreal at our test in Monza," he says. "The car looks good in low downforce trim, so we should be competitive.

"Although we have had a lot of reliability issues at most of the past races this season, I am looking forward to the race in Montreal. Hopefully we will have a more positive weekend compared to the ones we have already had.

"The race track is not that interesting during qualifying because the corners are slow and there are a few chicanes, but it is great for the race. There is some heavy braking, which allows for plenty of overtaking opportunities.

"Montreal is a fantastic location for the grand prix," he adds. "The race track is in a nice spot and we, as drivers, are closer to the crowds than at most tracks. Races in Montreal have always been very exciting."

Team-mate Jenson Button has sat out this week's Monza test as he recovers from his Monaco practice crash.

"After my crash in Monaco I'm looking forward to getting back on track in Canada," says the Englishman, "and hoping the weekend goes a bit more smoothly for me!

"It's a funny circuit as it's just a few long straights divided up by tight chicanes, so it's a case of full throttle, hard on the brakes, full throttle, hard on the brakes, and so on.

"The track is pretty dirty at the start of the weekend so it's vital to be one of the last runners in Saturday's qualifying session," he continues. "This means it's important for us to get a good spot on Friday. Given the car's performance so far this year I think it will be well-suited to Montreal, so I'm confident we can have a good crack at the points this weekend.

"I'm happy to report that I feel fine and I'm ready for Montreal!"

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.