Downhill Racers:
by Jeremy Hart.
Autosport, January 28 1999 issue..

Jacques Villeneuve relives the first-corner pile-up: "We had a big crash at the first chicane. We all went in too fast and, all of a sudden, there were people everywhere. It was a big mess, and I was lucky to get away unhurt". He is not talking Formula 1, however. This is different type of Grand Prix, the 24 Heures de Villars, the Canadian's first attempt to stage a day-long charity ski race in his Swiss mountain retreat.

Watching nervously from the slopes just 42 days before the start of the new F1 season and British American Racing's debut in the Australian GP are BAR bigwigs and fellow ski racers Craig Pollock, Adrian Reynard, and the driver's engineer and confidante, Jock Clear. It doesn't seem like a particularly good idea to have the four key members of a team on the verge of its maiden GP risking all in the Alps.

"I have told Jacques to take it easy", says Clear, resigned to the fact that for once his advice would go unheeded. "Jacques and Craig are in a team that wants to win this event and it would be easy for the pressure of competition to take over. I don't have that. I am in what you could call a leisure team".

As predicted, the driver shrugs off the worries of his engineer. He grew up in the Swiss mountains and reckons he is at home on skis as he is behind the wheel. "I ski every day to keep fit. I take risks every time, so this is nothing different", Villeneuve says. "The point is that I have been trying to organise this race for a year or two, and it's something very important for me. Also, BAR might not be starting its first race in March if I hadn't met Craig here. We are raising money for the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and I have managed to get a few other GP drivers and some celebrities to take part. I couldn't very well sit it out and expect them to race while I watched".

Bunched up in what looked like the old Le Mans running start on snow were his paddock pals, David Coulthard and Mika Salo, and the Canadian's reported new love interest, violinist Vanessa Mae. "I think making me do the running start is a bad idea", says Coulthard, by his own admission not the strongest skier in a line-up of 600 competitors in 123 teams. "It could be my slowest start yet. And that is really saying something". Salo and Villeneuve are great friends and regularly take to the mountains for Alpine adventures. The Finn explains, "I am doing the race on a snowboard, because it's something I've done for 15 years. I won't be able to beat Jacques, as he is better at skiing. That doesn't matter, I'm better at snowmobiling and car racing that him".

The idea of the event is simple. Each team, with anything from two to six members, will ski in rotation for a whole day. The daylight section is a demanding three-mile downhill alongside the funicular railway between Villars and the ski station two kilometres above sea level at Col de Brettaye. At night, under floodlights, they will switch to a slalom course at the top of the mountain. "It's going to be a good test of skiing ability", says Villeneuve. "But the way to win this is to keep going at a good, steady speed, not pretend you are Tomba or Klammer".

Going into the first corner, he finds that he should have listened to his own advice. It's a minor miracle that everyone escapes the mêleé unhurt. At the end of the first downhill 'lap', all 123 teams are still in the running. The Canadian, though, is on a charge. His team is in the top 10 and looking good. Just two days after setting the fastest time in F1 testing at Barcelona, his confidence is mountain high. Meanwhile, Coulthard and Salo are quite happy to run midfield. "It's getting cut up out there", the Scot reports after handing over to his team mate and former engineer, Clear. "After 24 hours, the piste is going to be really bad. But it's a lot of fun, the camaraderie is great". Also in the team is Minardi sporting director, Cesare Fiorio.

By the time night falls, six hours into the race, an estimated crowd of 15,000 has trudged up the mountain to see the stars in action. Sadly, Coulthard and Salo have opted out, the McLaren driver until the safety of daylight and the Finn for good. He need to catch a flight back to his homeland at the time the race is due to finish. "I let my better teammates do the difficult slalom section", says Coulthard, who has permission from McLaren boss Ron Dennis to do the race, but doesn't want to risk his championship challenge through skiing bravado. "But I did stay and enjoy the party".

Villeneuve powers through the small hours, taking his team up to sixth overall by dawn. His fans and normally-reserved fellow villagers go wild. "People said that this could never happen in Villars", says one local. "But Jacques has a lot of influence and it has been a great success. I hope it happens again". Villeneuve and Pollock, who has a house in the village where he was once a teacher, have let the world into their adopted retreat in aid of charity. It isn't something that the driver regrets. "I don't think Villars will be ever be the same again", he says as the 24 hours comes to a close. "But we have raised 100,000 Swiss francs (£40,000) for the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation. That makes the aches and pains worthwhile".

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