Scribblings

The complete works of the OED should have added a new word; its synonym would have been passion, terror, die-hard, dignity, hard work. It was passion for a car, terror for a racer, die-hard for the racing world, dignity for the human race, hard work for the team. The word is Jacque Villenuve. Yet the sun as they say is going down in his world. A close of an era, end of a champion, last kiss in a romance. Now it’s a tragedy now it’s so sad to see. Dare Me! Why all this hue and cry about a racer who hasn’t won a single race since 1997? Ask ‘the legendry’ Schumacher or shall I put it ‘the petrified’ Shumi. The ‘superman’ was left with no other option than to fly over the rear wing to stop Jacque from taking the win and the championship. Was he that good? As a saying goes ‘Ho Hell Yea’. He is the son of a great champion, He is a great champion. In a career of up and all down it never mattered to him whether he was running for first or last, it never occurred to him that nobody bothered he finished ninth or tenth or ended the season with six or seven points. His job was to give 100 percent and he gave 110 every single race.

Let’s review the up; it was a very short one. But don’t mistake me; it was ‘Vil’ short. He achieved more than any ordinary racer would have ever dare dream. He entered F1 as a second driver to the ageing champion Damien Hill. And he was a real headache, he made (I’m sorry all the Damien fans out there) Hill look small. But it was not a fault of his, he never knew the meaning of under achieve. After a great first season where he finished second he toped it by winning the championship in the next as Hill moved away. And by then he was pushed into the category of great champs. As Schumacher moved to Ferrari, Jacque moved to BAR. Ho! I forgot there ends the ‘UP’ era.

He started with a car which couldn’t even be pushed to the finish line. Anyway if he could’ve, believe me he would have. And after four years it’s still a bullock cart. British American Bullock cart. But can’t he move to another team? Is there no one who will take the ‘Vil Man’? Sadly the truth is NO! He is always ready to kick ass rather than kiss it. And why should he? He has all the money he needs and too much pride to go with it. He was never a team player. But that wasn’t a problem before! Teams were built in a day for him. And now Renault won’t take him! And now he won’t stoop so low as to join Minardi. And now BAR don’t want him. They vow their meager existence to him. Now they believe they can do without him? Ask him, he will fire back “They will burn in hell for this”. But don’t get me wrong, he is a gentleman, when Oliver Panis returned back missing couple of seasons, Jaque side stepped to give Oliver the No 9 and he settled with No 10. He is a perfectionist, he is loyal. When a couple of seasons back Renault approached him; he told them he was exclusive, exclusive to BAR – His BAR.

Why shouldn’t we let him go, with all the talent we have in the likes of young Kimi and Alonso? He wasn’t just a champion he was much more than that. He was a champion who spoke his mind. He was not afraid of anything; if there is an engine mounted on four wheals he could race it. It’s no way his burial, but it’s definitely our loss.