Villeneuve + Rain = ZERO...

[Guinness]

As soon as the rain began I looked over to my best mate and said "I swear to God that he JV doesn't make it to the pits I will kick the Feckin' TV in..."

We all know what happen... The TV lived as I was tackled to the floor and told to behave but JV went off...

I promised my self that I would give myself a couple of days to cool off before even thinking of posting.
So here it is. (By the way I am a big JV fan...)
Until JV gets it together in the rain he will never - can never be regarded as a "Great" driver. He just seems to disappear in the wet and for the life of me I can't figure out how a guy can be so fast in the dry and so off in the wet. Never has he impressed me in the rain, rather he has only disapponted. It is only a matter of time before his stock begins to go down duelu related to this issue.
Can anyone think of another WCD that has stunk it up like JV in the rain?

- I realize I am not saying anything new here but I must admit I feel better getting this off my chest.

[Orange]

I almost didn't read this post, just because of its anti-JV tone... Glad I did though, its true Guinness, JV does have a problem in the rain (and as a JV fan, I feel youre pain!) My theory, is that he has a car that he needs to drive at the limit to get anything like competitive times from... This, coupled with an already agressive driving style, well.. he just drives to hard in the rain and ends up sliding out. Ok Liz, this is where you say that it is because Jaques is immature, and doesn't care ;-) ;-)

[Jay]

I generally agree with you Orange. He certainly hasn't had the best time in the rain. He is able to drive fast in the rain (as shown in last year's Canadian GP when he was lapping faster than the McLaren's in the rain. Then he made the stupidest move of his career )

He really likes to push the car to the limit, and trys to do so on every lap and through every corner. However, in the rain you have to be prepared to slow down when unsure of the situation. When in doubt JV seems to floor it, where others would lift. In the rain, this will not keep you on the track very long.

However, I would give him a break for going off in Malaysia. The rain came down harder and more suddenly than I have ever seen. Cars were spinning all over the track, and the 2 cars behind JV went off in identical fashion. They were the unlucky ones, many other drivers spun, but didn't end up in gravel.

[Airhead]

We can hardly single Jacques out for the big stick over Malaysia, everybody spun in the torrential rain. Like Jay said, Jacques just was unlucky and got stuck.

[mk1]

pretty lame in the rain?





hey i'm a poet and i didn't now
i was


sorry

[Run Free]

I agree with Jay too. In Malaysia Jacques really had bad luck. Even the ferraris spun off, but they recovered. It's not a matter of Jacques not being able to drive in the rain: in 1996, Barcelona, he drove to the podium under one of the bigger rain I've ever seen in f1 (it was his first year in F1, and Hill spun off). He his maybe too aggressive in the wet, but sometimes he payed for the wrong choice of his team, notably when he was at Williams (Monaco 97 for one). Give him a ferrari with very very good wet tyres and traction control and then see....;-)

[Orange]

Ok, point taken, Jaques does seemto be unlucky in rainy situaions.... I still think that in F1 drivers tend to make their own luck....
As for Jaques in a Ferrari, Yes Please!!!

[jimclark]

...as Johnny Rutherford once said, " 'Luck' is where preparation and oppurtunity meet", be it positive OR negative.... :wink:

[Ralf's Girl]

Everybody spun, Moffat? Ralf didn't.

Damon Hill was definitely not 'pretty lame in the rain', mk1. Unless you want to argue that Suzuka 94, where he beat the acclaimed rainmaster TGF, was a pretty lame victory.

[Airhead]

Did someone mention the word Ralf. On the TV I watched he got nerfed by his brothers mate. He then did an impersonation of one spinning in a F1 Car. But it was late at night (down here) and I could have dreamt all this

[Mania]

Yeah Ralf spun but it was thanks to clumsy Rubens rather than the wet!


Jacques Villernerve certainly isent good in the wet but then Damon Hill was'nt all that spectacular in the wet either. Although, Hill was "okay" enough to get by and pull of a smooth drive in the wet here and there.

Villernerve may need to work on his performances in the wet and at Monaco to be ranked as a better driver. Those two stand out as lacking in his resume - in the words of John Watson. I think Watson's right - Villernerve should be able to improve just a bit - he'll never be spectacularly good in the wet - like Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacherm and Jean Alesi but he should be good enough to rank along with the likes of Coulthard, Barrichelo etc.

[KA]

Other great drivers who weren't too hot in the rain- Alain Prost for one....

[BD]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Hakkinen. When it rains I usually write off his chances. Even Coulthard drove better than Mika in the rain in Malaysia.

[Jeanburrasca81]

Villeneuve + rain = funny spin...lol

[robert2000]

I read somewhere that JV does badly in the rain because he uses just 2.5cm of throttle travel

[Jeanburrasca81]

I dunno what the others use but it seems as if Villeneuve only knew full throttle...lol...not good when it's slippery. Thats one of my resons not to call him a racer...he needs more sensitivity...he doesn't feel when he#s beyond his limits and crashes...

[Bononi]

I wouldn't be so hard on JV, is was an unsual situation and almost everybody spun.
But I prefer what KA mentioned, one of the greatest Alain Prost, was a s*** in the rain. I can remember once in Imola when he just went off in the presentation lap... (I guess he made deliberately, because he was warning everybody hwo it was dangerous to run in wet conditions that day.)

[papabaz]

Originally posted by Orange
My theory, is that he has a car that he needs to drive at the limit to get anything like competitive times from...

I remember another JV in Malaysia with a far less competitive car and a simular driving style, who did manage to (almost) keep it on the track.

I think Villeneuve just gets a bit frustrated when he doesn't like the conditions he's driving in, especially if other drivers seem to handle those conditions better than he does.