F1 world champion Villeneuve set to test Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar
Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve is set to test the Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar at Barcelona this week.
The 1997 F1 title winner is one of four drivers due to get behind the wheel of the Gibson-engined Vanwall Vandervell LMH over the course of a three-day test at the Spanish track starting on Wednesday, Autosport has learned.
Villeneuve, 51, is known to be scheduled to share the prospective World Endurance Championship contender with Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri, who have undertaken the majority of testing with the car so far this year, and Joao Paulo de Oliveira.
Dillmann and Guerrieri are the nominated test drivers for the Vanwall LMH developed by the German ByKolles operation, while de Oliveira, who won the Formula Nippon (now Super Formula) title in 2010, has links with the team dating back to his participation in German Formula 3 in 2002.
No confirmation was forthcoming from the team on Villeneuve’s participation in the test.
Villeneuve was part the Peugeot line-up with the 908 HDi turbodiesel LMP1 at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2007 and ’08, finishing runner-up in the second of those years with Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian.
He outlined a desire on joining Peugeot to add a Le Mans victory to his F1 title and 1995 Indy 500 victory and is understood to still harbour aspirations at the French classic.
Villeneuve described this as the triple crown of motorsport, which more usually incorporates the Monaco Grand Prix rather than the F1 world championship.
Jacques Villeneuve with Giulia Marra
Photo by: Erik Junius
The most recent sportscar experience for Villeneuve, who this year contested the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup blue riband at the wheel of a Team Hezeberg Ford, came in 2019 when he took part in three endurance rounds of the Italian GT Championship driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.
The Daytona outing followed his participation in the Whelen Euro Series sanctioned by NASCAR: he undertook a full campaign in 2019 and part seasons in 2020 and ’21.
The Barcelona run is the latest test for the non-hybrid Vanwall, which has been up and running since late March.
It was given a shakedown on the Zweikbrucken airfield before quickly moving on to Most in the Czech Republic for its first test on a race circuit.
It is understood that ByKolles will file a minimum of one entry for the WEC next year under the Vanwall Racing banner.
Its attempt to join the series this year from round two at Spa was thwarted when its entry was turned down by series promoter the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA.
Series boss Frederic Lequien refused to give specific reasons for the rejection of the Vanwall, but it is understood that concerns over ByKolles’s right to use the name of the name of the former F1 team that won the 1958 constructors’ title and its modest record in LMP1 with its CLM P1/01 contender were among them.
The LMH rules also state that an entrant must prove it has an association with an existing automotive brand.
The plans for the relaunched Vanwall marque include a 1000bhp hybrid super-sportscar and an extreme track-day machine, while it is also understood further vehicles are planned.
How Cadillac put its stamp on the LMDh concept
Kubica talking to Hypercar teams for 2023, 2024 WEC seasons
Bathurst 12 Hour: Van Gisbergen Mercedes leads after first quarter
Shane van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Mercedes headed Matt Campbell’s Manthey Porsche after three hours of racing at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.