Jacques Villeneuve will participate in the Indianapolis 500!

At 42, the racing bug still tickles Jacques Villeneuve just as much. Having become a commentator for F1 Grand Prix on Canal + since last season, the Canadian recently registered for the World Rallycross Championship for this season.

He confirmed today that he will also return to his first love and participate in the legendary Indianapolis 500-mile race, which he had already won in 1995, the year of his IndyCar title: « I have had the chance to participate in several high-level world championships, and nothing excites me more than returning to the IndyCar series at its current level of competitiveness. Having the opportunity to return to IndyCar racing and the Indianapolis 500, on top of that, is something I never thought possible. If you have to win one race in your entire career, it’s the Indy 500. »

Villeneuve will participate in the race driving a single-seater for the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team, alongside Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, who finished 3rd in the IndyCar championship in 2013, and Russian Mikhail Aleshin. Discussions with Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson, the owners of the team, did not take long: “Everything went very quickly,” Villeneuve explains. “The discussions came at the right time because I had watched the IndyCar championship last year and found it very exciting, to the point that I was jealous of not participating. So, here I am!”

The former Williams driver wants to make history in motorsport, after being a world champion in Formula 1 and Indycar in the mid-90s: « I am a racer at heart and always will be. It’s what drives me and keeps me alive. I don’t want to be, for my children, the racer they’re used to seeing in books. »

The Indianapolis 500 will be held this year on May 25th. If Jacques Villeneuve qualifies for the race, it will have been 19 years between his last two participations. A record.