1978 started off rather slowly with just preparations for the coming racing season and finishing up Greg Athans new book Ski Free. I had enjoyed the past season with the best freestyle skiiers the world had to offer and Gilles finally getting a ride in Formula One made it look like a great year was in store. Len Coates also got prepared to head out for the Grand Prix season. His assignment from the Toronto Star was to let Canada know what we had representing us on the Grand Prix circuit. To date he had little to offer but Gilles’ seemingly tough struggle to keep up. We quietly had Clark Irwin Publishing in our pockets. The Italian press was already crucifying Gilles for his apparent reckless attitude in their beloved Ferrari. Formula One drivers were also concerned about the way Gilles approached racing. They could not figure out what he was doing when he would sit on the grid during race morning practice and make several outrageous starts leaving half his tires on the grid. Again on the formation lap, he would tear away from his starting box. It was simple. Gilles was doing what drag racers did before they made their run. He was laying down a nice thick patch of rubber to give his car grip and the advantage from the standing start. When he repeatedly spun during practice they thought he was way over his head. In actual fact he was finding the limit of the car and its tires in many corners. He was fast and he wanted to prove it. It was never about who’d win. It was about who was fastest. Gilles was qualifying in the top ten, but he was leaving hulks everywhere. His accident in Japan was haunting him with every line written about him. When the GP Circus got to California for the GP at Long Beach Gilles proved he belonged. He sat on the front row beside his team leader Carlos Reutemann. At the start Gilles out dragged Reutemann into the first turn and never looked back for the next 38 laps. Then he did it again! Naturally doing his late braking he came upon Clay Reggazoni in a narrow twisting part of the circuit just before the hill that led to the pit straight. As we saw him do at least twice in Formula Atlantic and again in the Japanese Grand Prix of 1977 one of Gilles front wheels came in contact with a rear wheel of Reggazoni’s car. Villeneuve’s leading Ferrari was now air-borne over Reggazoni’s car spinning around and coming to an abrupt halt in a tire barrier. One of Gilles tires had brushed Clay’s helmet on its way past. Clay continued and Gilles climbed from the wreck of his Ferrari. A stern talking to from ‘the old man’ was on his list when he returned to the factory. He had accidents in both his next two outings, but finally got on the points board with a fourth in Spain. He was called everything by the Italian press who demanded his release. He was not spoken of favourably by too many others in the press corps. To Ferrari he was the Crown Prince of Destruction. He finally picked up points in Austria and Holland to round out his year…well almost…we still had the Canadian race on the new track in downtown Montreal.
[Read more...]