Red marquis at 21:31, 24 October 2010

2010-10-24T21:31:25Z

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{{Motorsport venue
|Name = Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
|Location = Montreal, Québec, Canada
|Time = GMT -5
|Capacity = 100,000
|Image = [[Image:Île Notre-Dame (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve).png]]
|Image_caption = The ''Pit Hairpin'' on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
|Owner = [[Ville de Montréal]]
|Opened = 1978
|Former_names = Île Notre-Dame Circuit (1978-1982)
|Events = '''[[FIA]] [[Formula One]]''' [[Canadian Grand Prix]] '''[[NASCAR]] [[Nationwide Series]]''' [[NAPA Auto Parts 200]] '''[[NASCAR Canadian Tire Series]]''' NAPA AUTOPRO 100 '''[[Grand American Road Racing Association|Grand Am]] [[Rolex Sports Car Series]]'''
|Length_km = 4.361
|Length_mi = 2.71
|Turns = 13
|Record_time = 1:13.622
|Record_driver = {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Rubens Barrichello]]
|Record_team = [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]
|Record_year = 2004
}}
The '''Circuit Gilles Villeneuve''' is a motor racing circuit, venue for the [[Formula One]] [[Canadian Grand Prix]], [[NASCAR Canadian Tire Series]], [[NASCAR]] [[Nationwide Series]] and [[Rolex Sports Car Series|Grand-Am Rolex Sports]] Car Series.

The Canadian Grand Prix that took place for 30 years at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was dropped from the 2009 [[Formula One]] calendar and replaced with the inaugural [[Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]]. On November 27, 2009, Quebec's officials and Canadian Grand Prix organisers announced a settlement with [[Formula One Group|Formula One Administration]] and signed a new five-year contract spanning the 2010-2014 seasons.<ref>[http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/091127215535.shtml Canada returns to F1 championship] - f1-live.com, 27 November 2009</ref><ref>[http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/montreal-grand-prix-is-back-on-for-2010/ Montreal Grand Prix Is Back On for 2010] - The New York Times, 27 November 2009</ref> The 2010 edition took place on June 13.

== Circuit ==
The circuit, at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Notre-Dame, a man-made island in the St. Lawrence River that is part of the city of Montreal, was originally named the '''Île Notre-Dame Circuit'''.<ref>Automobile Year, 1978/79, Page 235</ref> It was renamed in honour of Canadian Formula One driver [[Gilles Villeneuve]], father of [[Jacques Villeneuve]], following his death in 1982.<ref>Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, Page 362</ref> The venue hosted the [[Champ Car World Series]] [[Grand Prix of Montreal]] from 2002 to 2006.

Barriers run close to the circuit and many experienced drivers have been caught out by them. A particularly famous part of the circuit is the wall on the outside of the exit of the final chicane. In [[1999 Canadian Grand Prix|1999]] the wall, which has on it the slogan ''Bienvenue au Québec'' ("Welcome to Quebec") giving it the nickname "Mur du Québec" (''Quebec Wall''), ended the race of three Formula One World Champions, [[Damon Hill]], [[Michael Schumacher]] & [[Jacques Villeneuve]] along with [[FIA GT]] champion [[Ricardo Zonta]]. Since then the wall has been nicknamed "The Wall Of Champions". In recent years [[Jenson Button]] (2005) and [[Vitantonio Liuzzi]] (2007) have also fallen victim to the wall. [[Fernando Alonso]] 2005/06 F1 World Champion and [[Nico Rosberg]] have also both hit the wall at turn 5. [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] has also hit a wall on the circuit. In 2010 [[Sauber]]'s [[Kamui Kobayashi]] also fell victim to the wall.

Changes made in [[2005 Canadian Grand Prix|2005]] to the curbs on the final chicane were controversial amongst drivers in the run-up to the Grand Prix. The curbs were made higher and more difficult for the drivers to see, making it even more challenging.

On June 23, 2006, [http://www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/f1/archives/2006/06/20060623-145005.html Canadian Press reported] that the city of Montreal has awarded exclusive rights to stage the two allowed race weekends on the track to Normand Legault, promoter of the [[Formula One]] [[Canadian Grand Prix]]. The deal is for 2007 to 2011, with an option for 2012 to 2016. Legault decided to replace the Champ Car race with races from the [[Grand American Road Racing Association]]'s Rolex Series and [[NASCAR]]'s [[Nationwide Series]], respectively - the latter series' first race north of the Canadian-United States border. On August 4, 2007, [[Kevin Harvick]] made history by winning the first [[NASCAR Busch Series]] (now Nationwide Series) race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in what was one of the most controversial NASCAR races ever. [[Robby Gordon]] says he won.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=3&id=2961526|title=ESPN - Harvick wins wild Busch race, but disqualified Gordon claims he won - Nascar}}</ref>

The NASCAR races have affected the circuit layout. An expansion of the [[pit lane]] took place, since a NASCAR pit lane must accommodate a minimum of 43 cars.

As part of [[Parc Jean-Drapeau]], the Circuit is open to visitors, between races, for walking, running, biking, in-line skating, etc. During the few days of the Grand Prix, Île Notre-Dame is one of the noisiest places in Montreal. At just about any other time of the year, it is one of the quietest, being located in the middle of a river, on an island filled with greenery and animals, joggers and cyclists. However, on June 4, 2009, administration of Île Notre-Dame has forbidden the access of competitive cyclists to the circuit, justifying this as a security measure to avoid the increasing injuries that occurred between year 2008 and 2009. A total of 27 injuries have been reported. The ban on cyclists has since been lifted due to protests.

== Comparison of different series at the circuit ==
As the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve serves as host to different racing series, it is possible to directly compare different race series' lap times.

In 2002, former Champ Car Champion [[Juan Pablo Montoya]] set pole position for the [[2002 Canadian Grand Prix|Formula One Grand Prix]] with a lap time of 1:12.836. Several weeks later, during the inaugural Champ Car [[Grand Prix of Montreal]], [[Cristiano Da Matta]] set pole position with a lap time of 1:18.959.

In 2006, the latest and currently last time [[Champ Car]] and F1 ran on the same track, Formula One was 5 to 7 seconds faster than Champ Car. The pole position in Formula One was set by [[Fernando Alonso]] in a time of 1:14.942, while [[Sébastien Bourdais]] set pole in 1:20.005 in Champ Car. The fastest lap in the Formula One race was 1:15.841 by [[Kimi Räikkönen]], while Sébastien Bourdais' fastest lap was 1:22.325 in the Champ Car race.

[[2007 NASCAR Busch Series]] driver [[Patrick Carpentier]] racing in the [[NAPA Auto Parts 200]] posted a pole time of 1:42.086. By comparison his [[2004 Molson Indy Montreal]] qualifying time in the [[Champ Car World Series]] was 1:20.836.

The track record for the [[Rolex Sports Car Series]] is 1:33.199. The time was set by [[Scott Pruett]] driving for [[Chip Ganassi Racing]] in the [[Daytona Prototype]] class in [[2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season|2008]].

== See also ==
* Other Montreal area race tracks
** [[Circuit Mont-Tremblant]]
** [[Sanair Super Speedway]]

{{Formula One circuits}}
{{Grand-Am circuits}}
{{NASCAR Nationwide Series racetracks}}
{{Champ Car tracks}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.circuitgillesvilleneuve.ca/en Official NASCAR NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 English site]
* [http://www.f1db.com/f1/page/Circuit_Gilles_Villeneuve Circuit Gilles Villeneuve History and Statistics]
* [http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/canada_793/ Statistics from official F1 site]
* [http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2008/6/7877.html A lap of Montreal with Honda’s Alex Wurz]
* [http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2008/6/7882.html Montreal - the technical requirements]
* [http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Circuit_Gilles_Villeneuve Trackpedia guide to driving Gilles Villeneuve]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/circuit_guide/4250793.stm BBC's circuit guide]
* [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/ciroalbertopabon/Circuitos_eng.htm&date=2009-10-25+17:21:30 Ciro Pabón's Racetracks] 3D views and virtual laps of all F1 circuits, including this one, via Google Earth
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=montreal&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=45.504121,-73.524585&spn=0.013685,0.043259&t=k&om=1 Google Maps]
* [http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/going-to-a-race/circuit-gilles-villeneuve-canada/ Spectator testimonial of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve]
* [http://www.play-montreal.com/?p=40 Nascar Busch Series on Play-Montreal]
* [http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com Parc Jean-Drapeau]

[[Category:Champ Car race tracks]]
[[Category:Formula One circuits|Gilles]]
[[Category:Canadian Grand Prix]]
[[Category:NASCAR tracks]]
[[Category:Road racing venues in Canada]]

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Revision history

Red marquis at 21:31, 24 October 2010