Jacques Villeneuve to help Renault pass BAR

By Phil Huff (15/09/2004)
September 15 2004

The news that Jacques Villeneuve has signed a three race deal with Renault throws a potentially ironic twist to Lucky Strike BAR Honda's quest for second in the constructors championship.

The French Canadian drove for BAR from the teams first race in 1999 up to the penultimate race of 2003. He left BAR before the final race, disappointed at not having his contract renewed, and since hasn't raced in Formula One.

In those 81 races, Jacques secured 39 points, with two podium finishes. He was an integral part of the team from day one, and is at least partly responsible for the teams development over that time and beyond, with BAR currently lying second in the constructors championship.

And now it's down to Villeneuve to make that third.

Replacing the ousted Jarno Trulli at Renault, Villeneuve will be going head to head with his old team in a bid to take the French team to the second slot.

In his first test session at Silverstone, Jacques took his new Renault round in 1:18.776, 1.6 seconds slower than his replacement at BAR, Takuma Sato.