Canadian, Jacques Villeneuve ex F1 champion and Indy 500 winner will compete in the next two V8 Supercars events with the Kelly Brothers outfit. Villeneuve had his first drive in a V8 Supercar at the Townsville 400 earlier this month and will stay to drive the Pepsi Max Crew Holden Commodore for the Ipswich 300 and the Sydney Motorsport Park 360.
Villeneuve was invited to drive covering for the injured Greg Murphy, but has already expressed a desire to stay in Australia and drive a V8 Supercar full-time for an entire season if a drive became available.
Meanwhile at next week’s Ipswich 300, the power struggle between drivers and manufacturers shall continue. Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes in their Vodafone Holdens will renew hostilities with Ford Performance Vehicles’, Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison which should as always provide for some hard and close racing over the weekend.
After Ford dominated a large number of races earlier in the year, Holden has come back and won the last two events with emphatic victories. Queensland Raceway’s relatively flat, 3.12 km, six corner ‘paper-clip’ circuit does not favour any team in particular – The winning strategy will come from the outfit that manages its fuel consumption, pit stop refuelling opportunities and tyre selection best over the two days of competition, especially if inclement weather closes in for the event: then anyone can win!
The Ipswich 300 will be held from August 3 to 5 while the Sydney Motorsport Park 360 is on from August 25 to 26.