Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the venue for the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, and, as of 2007, a NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The circuit, on Île Notre-Dame, a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River that is part of the city of Montreal, was named after the late Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve, father of Jacques Villeneuve. The venue hosted the Champ Car World Series Grand Prix of Montreal from 2002-2006.

During the few days of the Grand Prix, Île Notre-Dame is one of the noisiest places in Montreal. At just about any other time of the year, it is one of the quietest, being located in the middle of a river, on an island filled with greenery and animals, joggers and cyclists.

The circuit is a fast circuit, but it is also something like a street circuit. The roads were designed for automobile racing, but are public roads for the rest of the year. As such, barriers run close to the circuit and many experienced drivers have been caught out by them. A particularly famous part of the circuit is the wall on the outside of the exit of the final chicane. In 1999 the wall, which has on it the slogan Bienvenue au Québec ("Welcome to Quebec") giving it the nickname "Mur du Québec" (Quebec Wall), ended the race of three Formula One World Champions, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher & Jacques Villeneuve along with FIA GT champion Ricardo Zonta. Since then the wall has been nicknamed "The Wall Of Champions". In recent years Jenson Button (2005) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (2007) have also fallen victim to the wall. Fernando Alonso 2005/06 F1 World Champion and Nico Rosberg have also both hit the wall at turn 5. Juan Pablo Montoya has also hit a wall on the circuit.

Changes made in 2005 to the curbs on the final chicane were controversial amongst drivers in the run-up to the Grand Prix. The curbs were made higher and more difficult for the drivers to see, making the chicane even more of a challenge to drivers.

On June 23, 2006, Canadian Press reported that the city of Montreal has awarded exclusive rights to stage the two allowed race weekends on the track to Normand Legault, promoter of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. The deal is for 2007 to 2011, with an option for 2012 to 2016. Legault decided to replace the Champ Car race with races from the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Series and NASCAR's Busch Series, respectively - the latter series' first race north of the Canadian-United States border. The inaugural races will take place on August 3 and 4, 2007.

The NASCAR races will affect the circuit. An expansion of pit lane has taken place because a NASCAR pit lane must accommodate a minimum of 43 cars, and it is expected some expansion could take place at the pit exit.

The Canadian Grand Prix will make its return in 2010.

Late in the 2012 NASCAR season, it was announced the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve would not return for 2013.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Winners

Year	Driver	Started	Car #	Owner	Make
2007	Kevin Harvick	30	21	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
2008	Ron Fellows	6	5	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
2009	Carl Edwards	2	60	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
2010	Boris Said	5	09	RAB Racing	Ford
2011	Marcos Ambrose	9	9	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford

External links

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• Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
• Circuit Gilles Villeneuve History and Statistics
• Trackpedia guide to driving Gilles Villeneuve
• Ciro Pabón's Racetracks 3D views and virtual laps of all F1 circuits, including this one, via Google Earth
• Google Maps
• Spectator testimonial of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve