May 26 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve’s quest for motorsport’s ‘triple crown’ has come crashing to a halt.
Having already won the Formula 1 world championship and the Indy 500, the French Canadian was gearing up to race in the top Hypercar category in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But former F1 team boss Colin Kolles has dropped the 52-year-old from the Vanwall lineup, replacing him with 33-year-old Frenchman Tristan Vautier.
In the official announcement of the news, no reason was given for the decision – but Kolles is understood to have been unhappy with the 1997 world champion’s pace and mistakes in recent outings.
“Two reasons explain our decision,” Kolles told France’s Auto Hebdo.
“The first is that he does not have enough mileage in our car due to various circumstances. The second is that his wife is expecting a child in a few days.
“That’s why we decided it was better for him not to drive at Le Mans,” he added. “It’s a big race and we don’t want to take any risks.”
Villeneuve has raced at Le Mans twice before, finishing second overall with Peugeot in 2008.