Circuit Gilles Villeneuve : The Formula One DataBase (original) (raw)

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Address:Bassin OlympiqueIle de Notre-DameMontrealQuebec H2Y 3G7Canada Telephone:(+1) 514 873 2015 Fax:(+1) 514 864 3838 Country:Canada

One of the most spectator accessible circuits in F1, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve combines a dedicated motorsports facility with a street circuit just a subway stop away from down town Montreal.

In 1978, with the rise of Gilles Villeneuve, French Canada wanted to return the race to Quebec, after Mont-Tremblant was deemed unsafe. In October of 1978 the Canadian GP was held on Ile-Notre Dame, not far from downtown Montreal to enormous success as Gilles Villeneuve won his maiden race in front of his home fans. Mosport was quickly forgotten as the race returned year after year to Montreal before enormous crowds. With the exception of 1987 when beer rivals Molson and Labatt ended up having the race cancelled due to a sponsorship row, the Canadian GP has been held here every year since.

The circuit itself has changed over the years with the pits being moved from one end of the Island to the other during the 1987 hiatus, and some of the twists and turns have been straightened out to create a high-speed circuit. Not the most challenging to drivers due to the lack of high-speed corners, the circuit has only had one fatality in it's 27 races, Riccardo Paletti's fatality due to a fire at the start of the 1982 edition.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looks to have a long-term future on the F1 calendar, despite threats of it's removal in 2003.

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Created by: system last modification: Thursday 07 of July, 2005 [21:46:04 UTC] by senor_soup