The proposed Villeneuve Racing F1 project is actually a partnership with former GP2 team Durango.
The Italian outfit announced its intention to enter some months ago, amid scepticism reflecting the fact that having failed to find enough money to stay afloat in GP2, it seemed an unlikely candidate for an F1 entry.
However the addition to the mix of Villeneuve and his manager Rick Gorne – one of the founders of BAR – has clearly made it a more interesting proposition.
“Jacques is an energetic and willing guy,” Durango team boss Ivone Pinton told website 422race. “I really hope together we will find a place. For Durango, to work with him is an honour and a privilege: we are talking about the son of a myth and a former World Champion. Even if I know him since he was 16. And I always said that, whenever he’s OK, he’s a great driver, who won in every series.”
Pinto did not reveal anything about potential technical partners, although it’s worth noting that having ended its deal with HRT, Dallara could be available. Durango is also known to have talked to Toyota.
“We still don’t know where the car would be built, but the home of the team will be ours, in Italy.”
Regarding Villeneuve’s role, Pinton said: “Together with being driver, I’m sure he will actively contribute to the company. I think he’s preparing himself the job to do after he quits driving.”
Adam Cooper F1 
‘The son of a myth?’ So Gilles didn’t actually exist? 🙂
Good point, but then I didn’t translate it! Although I did change ‘society’ to company…
Villeneuve is a very astute character with a refreshing take on things…and his dad was like Michelangelo behind the wheel. If you ever saw Gilles at an F1 race or spoke to him in person, it was like he had an aura around him. No, he did have an aura. An absolute genius, and a true sportsmen. Can you imagine Gilles ramming into a competitor’s car because he felt slighted by the governing authorities?
I’m glad Jacques is attempting a return to F1. The sport needs some non politically correct heroes.
This is absolutely *brilliant*: Durango have confirmed they’re working with Villeneuve. So, this is basically what their bid is: a washed-up singer-songwriter who has been trying to make a comeback for at least a year lends his name to a bankrupt, wannabe GP2 team with a nam straight out of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and who have been investigated for tax evasion and fraud, whose time in GP2 was marked by frequent rushed repair jobs of an Andrea Moda quality that ignored the rules and with rumours that they’ll be running a redundant and obsolete 2010 car purchased from Toyota. The only way this could be any more awesome would be if the team’s second driver was a certain DTM pilot who was and still is desperate to escape his brother’s shadow. And if they came up with some super-pretentious “boutique” name, like “Villeneuve Racing by Durango”, possibly with a certain Serbian who has a limited command of the English language and a name like a James Bond villain as team principal. There is no way this can end well.
Somebody *has* to let this team in – even if their main rivals for the place are some Epsilon Euskadi/Prodrive/ART super-conglomerate (ProART Euskadi?) – just so that we can have some hilariously-inept team to entertain us when the races get boring.