Jacques Villeneuve's accident

Not the son, the uncle. Just if you are wondering.

Yesterday, I found a newspaper from Montreal at my local supermarket, and bought it, to practice a little bit of my French. In the sports section, there was a news report about an accident suffered by Jacques Villeneuve.

I did not find any report on the specialized press, maybe I missed it. I don't know, but the fact is the lesser known Villeneuve, and for that matter, lesser known Jacques Villeneuve, had been a F1 driver (albeit unsuccessful), an Indycar car race winner, a Can-Am champion, and a notable Formula Atlantic driver.

Jacques, like older brother Gilles, began racing in snowmobiles. And it was in one of the contraptions that Jacques had an accident, that resulted in a perforated lung, among other problems.

The injuries are not life-threatening, and it seems the 59-year old will recover. Whether the French Canadian will muster the will to race snowmobiles again, I do not know.

Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and auto racing historian living in Miami

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