A superb drive by Jacques Villeneuve at the Armor All Gold Coast 600 saw the French-Canadian and his team-mate Paul Dumbrell take a credible fifth place in the second of two300km races. The result confirms Villeneuve as the highest placed international driver onSunday, and completes what has been an exciting and challenging weekend for the former-Formula One World Champion.
V8 Supercar driver Dumbrell had given another solid qualifying performance to put the #55Bottle-O Falcon eighth on the grid, and with Villeneuve behind the wheel at the start, it wascrucial for the team to avoid any collisions in the first few laps.
Villeneuve got a good start and powered down to the first chicane. There was heavy fightingthroughout the field, with all drivers challenging hard for position. The #55 crew took advantageof a safety car period, and made an early pitstop on lap 15. Damage sustained to the Falcon inthe opening laps was repaired, ensuring there would be no black flag penalties later in the race.Villeneuve re-joined the circuit just outside the top 20, and from there he began to pick his waythrough the field. On lap 34 the safety car was deployed once again, and Villeneuve by thispoint had completed his quota of laps. The #55 Bottle-O Falcon pitted for a driver change, andDumbrell took the wheel for the remainder of the race.
Australian V8 Supercar regular Dumbrell brought the car across the line in fifth position, to takea well-deserved and hard-fought top five result for the team.
Speaking about the race, Villeneuve said: “It was a lot of fun, certainly in the opening laps wheneveryone was fighting hard for position. There was a lot of wheel banging and it was an excitingrace. I’m very happy for the whole team who worked so hard this weekend, and pleased wewere able to bring home a strong result today.”
Villeneuve, who is currently working towards a future in NASCAR, added: “It’s been great to bepart of the Armor All Gold Coast 600 this weekend, and a lot of fun being thrown in at the deepend with all the international drivers. It’s been a fantastic experience, a pleasure working witheveryone on the #55 Bottle-O Falcon team, and it’s always nice to be ‘down under’, enjoying thebest of the Gold Coast weather – I’ve had a great time.”
