Jacques Villeneuve is preparing to compete in the Armor All Gold Coast 600 – the V8Supercar component of Queensland’s SuperCarnivale racing weekend. The formerFormula One and IndyCar Champion will take to the wheel of the #55 Bottle-O Falcon,alongside co-driver Paul Dumbrell, with Ford Performance Racing. With a 300km raceon both the Saturday and Sunday, this weekend’s event promises to be spectacular.Speaking about his involvement, Villeneuve said: “It has been a while since I have beento the Gold Coast, but the event has always rated highly in the world of motor sports,and Surfers Paradise is a beautiful part of the world. The V8 Supercars are a fantasticseries with a terrific following and I cannot wait for the chance to drive one in anger. Theinternational driver concept for the Gold Coast 600 has created a great amount ofinterest, so it will be good to finally get out onto the track.”

Villeneuve will be joining a superstar grid, including current IndyCar drivers RyanBriscoe, Will Power, Scott Dixon and 2010 IZOD IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti. Inaddition, the field includes former European F1 drivers and current touring car andsportscar guns Tiago Monteiro, Mika Salo, Andy Priaulx, Gianni Morbidelli, FabrizioGiovanardi, Alain Menu and Yvan Muller.

Ford Performance Racing Team Principal Tim Edwards said: “It's a real pleasure havingsomeone the calibre of Jacques on our team this weekend. It's not everyday we havethe chance to work with an ex-Formula One World Champion so it will be interestinghow he finds racing one of our aussie V8 Supercars.

“This weekend should see some really interesting racing with some of the internationaldrivers not having much sedan racing experience - that's where Jacques, having racedNASCAR will be a huge benefit to our team come race day."