Nearly 45 years after his death, Gilles Villeneuve continues to inspire generations of racing fans.
A new exhibition at Parc Jean-Drapeau offers an inside look at the life and career of the Quebec icon and the story behind his rise to Formula One fame.
“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been named after him since 1982, so we wanted to have that story told to the public so that people understand why we have Gilles Villeneuve named on our sticker,” said Véronique Doucet, Parc Jean-Drapeau general manager.
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Located just steps from the circuit that bears his name, the exhibition brings together family photographs, archival footage and memorabilia that trace Villeneuve’s path from a young racer in Quebec to one of Formula One’s most celebrated drivers.
“Sometimes you see exhibits that talk about my dad, and sometimes they have the Ferraris and other items from Formula One, but less so items like the Formula Atlantics, or the suits or the helmets that he wore back in the day, and how he came to be a driver,” said Melanie Villeneuve, Gilles Villeneuve’s daughter.
Earlier this year, Quebec officially designated Gilles Villeneuve a historic figure, recognizing not only his accomplishments on the track, but also the lasting mark he left on the province’s sporting history.
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And while fans remember the victories and the fearless driving, his daughter says this exhibition also reconnects her with the father she remembers.
“All the photography that you see here is from the family archive,” she said. “And so it allowed me to go back to sources that I hadn’t seen in a while. When I see his long hair, his almost hippie kind of look, it throws me back to a different context — a different era.”
The exhibition will open Thursday and continue into late December.
I followed him when I was a kid