GILLES VILLENUEVE: THE LIFE OF A LEGEND PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Gerald Donaldson | 320 pages | 10 Apr 2003 | Ebury Press | 9780753507476 | English | London, United Kingdom Gilles Villeneuve - The Story Of A Legend His race pace was good, too. A top-six finish seemed certain until he pitted with what he thought was an overheating engine. It turned out that the problem was nothing more than a faulty temperature gauge, but it cost him two laps in the pits and any chance of points. It was an auspicious debut, but McLaren decided not to offer him a contract. Ferrari, however, wasted little time in signing him to partner the brilliant but enigmatic Argentinian, Carlos Reutemann, for the season. There were mistakes, too, but as the end of the season approached, the little French-Canadian had developed into a formidable driver. At Monza, he delighted the tifosi by planting his Ferrari on the front row. His performance in the race was no less impressive, but was understandably overlooked in the aftermath of the start-line pile up that ultimately claimed the life of the brilliant Swedish driver, Ronnie Peterson, a man cut from much the same cloth as Gilles. However, both men were adjudged to have jumped the start and each received a sixty-second time penalty. The result was that first and second on the road became sixth and seventh in the standings: Gilles and Mario had raced their hearts out in a fight over a solitary championship point. It was a twisted joke served up on a hideous day. Modern F1 is an unsentimental beast, and it was the same back in Ronnie Peterson, a very popular figure with drivers and fans alike, was mourned but the show nonetheless went on, crossing the Atlantic for the final two races of the season. His celebrations at winning his maiden Grand Prix in his home country were, however, rather more muted than one might have expected. Once regarded as the wild man of Formula 1, Scheckter had matured into a fine driver. For reasons best known to FISA, the scoring system was changed for The 15 race season would be split into two unequal segments — the first seven races and the second eight. Each driver would be allowed to count his best four scores from each of those two segments and the aggregate would make up his tally for the season. This method was unique to the season — it was replaced for the season and would never again be implemented. As has oft been their wont, Ferrari imposed team orders in , but these would only come in to play after the first seven races. Whichever of their drivers was ahead at that point could count upon the support of his team-mate for the second eight. It was a tall order, and the two South American races yielded a grand total of three points for Ferrari. Come the third race, the South African Grand Prix, it was a different story. The T4 made its debut and was immediately on the pace. Gilles took full advantage of his new mount, winning in South Africa and again in the next race, at Long Beach in California. In mixed conditions at Kyalami, he led Scheckter home for a Ferrari , thanks in no small part to a clever choice of tyres. At Long Beach, he put his T4 on pole and was never headed in the race. He was leading the championship and the omens looked good. But Grand Prix racing is never that simple. The next three races yielded nothing in the way of points for Gilles. His team-mate, however, won two of them and finished fourth in the other. In Spain, Gilles spun whilst challenging Reutemann for second. After pitting for tyres, he spun again. Another pitstop ensued and he wound up seventh, albeit with a spectacular fastest lap time. Worse was to follow in Belgium. What followed thereafter was one of the great recovery drives. It looked for a time like second place might still be within his reach, but when his tyres said otherwise he took the sensible option and backed off. As he entered the last lap, third place and a hard won four points seemed to be in the bag. Fate, however, decreed otherwise and the Ferrari ground to halt on the final lap, its fuel exhausted. For the want of a litre of Agip, third place became seventh. Scheckter, meantime, enjoyed an untroubled race, going on to take the win and, for the first time, overtake his team-mate in the race for the championship. Monaco failed to bring better fortune for Gilles. The second half of the championship kicked off at Dijon in France. Here, in front of their home crowd, the turbocharged Renaults of Jabouille and Arnoux locked out the front row. The priority in those days was clear: Stay alive. Of course, that also works on your frame of mind and your life philosophy. It was different racing. Part of the problem was the cars, which were the pinnacle of safety at the time, but would be considered extremely dangerous at best by today's standards. In Villeneuve's accident, the seatbelts ripped from their mounts, which is why he was thrown across the track and into a catch fence. He also lost his helmet in the crash because, as Mass explained, "they were not very good either. Although Mass sometimes wonders whether things could have turned out differently, Villeneuve's son Jacques has no doubt about what went wrong. Villeneuve understands the dangers of racing firsthand after a successful career of his own, which included the Championship Auto Racing Teams CART title, a win at the Indianapolis and the F1 world championship title. You can't blame someone else for someone's mistake. They were both racers, and that's it. It's not as if they had been in a race and one driver had purposely done something nasty. Villeneuve almost bristled at the suggestion that Mass might have a difficult day on the anniversary, citing that the accident happened three decades ago. The only reason the day might be troubling, Villeneuve suggested, is because Mass keeps being asked to relive the crash once a year — something that he experienced too. That's the only reason that people remember or it's tough for people is because on that day — and it was the same for me — a million people would start calling and ask: 'So how do you feel today? For his part, Mass understands exactly why racing fans, and especially Canadians, want to talk about Gilles Villeneuve on May 8. It was tragic," Mass said. But it is something which is part of the quality and misery of life. I look back at it with humility in a way, and feel that they were precious years, dangerous years, and lucky years. The St-Hippolyte, Que. It wasn't easy for the year-old, who had the Mercedes of series champion Gary Paffett nipping at his heels for the entire race, trailing his BMW by less than a second for most of the 52 laps. The Mercedes behind me was piling on the pressure and just kept on attacking me," said Spengler, whose margin of victory was 1. That was a big surprise to me. The win pushed Spengler into third overall in points behind leader Paffett and his Mercedes teammate Jamie Green. Canadian Robert Wickens had a rough day in his second race for Mercedes after his car broke down with five laps to go while he was in the final points-paying position of 10th. Wickens had started in 15th. For more from Jeff Pappone, go to facebook. Twitter: jpappone. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. More filters. Sort order. Dec 28, Scott rated it it was amazing Shelves: formula- one , favorites. Gerald Donaldson does a spectacular job of telling the story of the legendary Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve. The book starts right at the beginning. Donaldson takes the reader on a journey through Gille's life from his early days growing up in Quebec to that sad unforgettable day in May Gilles lived h 'I know that some day I am going to have a really big crash' Unfortunately that day came and claimed the life of arguably the fastest and purest Formula One driver the sport has ever seen. Gilles lived his life in the fast lane. He always had the need for speed, whether it was on snowmobiles, his pickup truck, or in the cockpit of his Ferrari F1 machine. With that said, Gilles wasn't wild or crazy behind the wheel. His friends and family may have thought so as Donaldson comically points out, but he was always composed. He had great trust in his own driving abilities that he was never afraid of going fast. One of the main points I'll take away from this book is that Gilles was not like the other superstar drivers of the time. What I mean by that is Gilles was a family man; he did not go out partying or have a 'girl in every port. Gilles Villeneuve truly was the purest driver the sport has ever seen. He did not race for the money, yes he enjoyed the perks of racing, but he enjoyed going fast more. Gilles' former Ferrari teammate Jody Scheckter sums up who Gilles is perfectly: '[Gilles] was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. But more important for me is that he was the most genuine person I have ever known.