SEPTEMBER 25, 1995

Villeneuve in action

INDYCAR Champion Jacques Villeneuve had his first runs in a Williams-Renault since being named team mate to Damon Hill for 1996.

INDYCAR Champion Jacques Villeneuve had his first runs in a Williams-Renault since being named team mate to Damon Hill for 1996. The French-Canadian spent two days in action at Monza, Italy, and recorded a best lap which would have been good enough to give him third place on the grid for the recent Italian Grand Prix.

Jacques is going to be busy in the weeks ahead, testing at all the available circuits in the 1996 World Championship so that he will be able to start his F1 career fully prepared. This may not be as easy as it seems, however, as some circuits are solidly booked for months ahead. We hear that Williams has been unable to get a single day for testing at Hockenheim and that the Hungaroring has been deleted from the testing schedule after the Hungarians demanded $75,000 for two days of testing.

Williams has, however, confirmed that Villeneuve will run at Imola, Estoril, Magny-Cours and Barcelona. The Imola test is scheduled to take place in 10 days time - after the European GP at the Nurburgring.

To date Williams has been impressed by Jacques: "He looks to be capable of winning races in the future," said Frank Williams, who flew down to Monza to watch one day of the testing last week.