A country boy with a need for speed.

The Prince of Destruction, The Flying Canadian, the term "No Fear" was actually coined for him. Gilles Villeneuve started 67 races, retired or crashed out of about half of them and won 6 yet he still is the most bellowed of all Ferrari drivers. It's been 30 years since Zolder. Ciao Gilles.

A Golden Time

Our friend, filmmaker and racer Alex King, sent us this very special recollection to share with you tracktards.

It's a snapshot of a simpler, perhaps happier time in racing. Even though the clip below is precisely what you would expect from a 1970's production (yes, there is some jazz flute...), I urge you to watch the whole thing, I promise you will enjoy it.



When my mom passed away in from cancer in late 2008, my dad uncovered this old film of them racing Formula Atlantic in the 1970s, in the golden days, when some of the best racers started and competed in that series.

Brack, Villeneuve, and even Hunt, Brambilla, Patrese, Lafitte and Pironi competed at a famous race at Trois Riveres . In 2004, I raced at the revival event there in his very own '73 March. I fought Duncan Dayton only retire from the lead with a tightening up motor.

It's a cool little video that is almost a preface to vintage racing these days. But oh my, how dangerous it was. Nice runoff eh?



It was certainly a great era for racing in F1 and all around the world. Low budget, highly competitive, great tracks, and really a ton of fun: what racing should be!

Drivers went onto F1 from Atlantic back then and everyone knows the stories of how Villenueve measured his bravery against these tooth-cut drivers from North America.

But also, that lifestyle is where my parents found romance and where I ultimately came from. They would pack up their bus and head across North America and Canada racing during the summer, James was racing and Barb was trusty with a stop watch.

My mom, Barbera, would have been 61 on Friday, August 6th, and even though she became a very successful jewelry artist later in life, and my Dad finally won the championship in Formula Atlantic 1982 (in the year I was born, he shared the St Pete podium with a young Paul Tracy), it's just cool to look back at our racing roots.

There is something carefree about that time that I think we need more of. Certainly the dynamic, fun and talented people made it better, and the money these days doesn't bring the value that you'd think...



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Car Wars 1979

The 1979 formula 1 season, it was a time when there was much freedom for designers to come up with radically different solutions but it was also deemed the year when any driver in the right car could win the championship and Formula 1 had become "boring". The "machine over man" era was said to have begun. In reality, that was always the case, unless you are Nuvolari defeating Silver Arrows in an ancient Alfa, you can't win with inferior equipment.

Interesting tidbits in this old film, Hunt strikes a familiar note arguing Formula 1 had gotten boring and how people tune in with the hope of witnessing an exciting race, more then the expectation to. Yet when people quote the "good old days of F1 they invariably point to the 1979 duel between Villeneuve and Arnoux at the French GP. Today many claim F1 is boring, yet we had three incredibly close seasons in a row.

Did you notice just how shabby F1 was back then? I mean a Mclaren with chipped mirror housings? Drivers with stone pitted helmets? Even the GoodYear stencil on the tires looks sloppy and forget about safety in the pits, the cars or along the track. Ecclestone, Dennis and Mosley changed all that in the 80's.

Part 2 and 3 are after the jump.

Ciao Gilles!

Gilles Villeneuve January 18, 1950 - May 8, 1982.