US IMSA driver replaced Villeneuve

Vanwall team sidelines Jacques Villeneuve (temporarily?)

General

Jacques Villeneuve not in 24 hours of Le Mans
25 May 2023 at 17:18
Last update 25 May 2023 at 18:28

The Vanwall team, competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), has removed Jacques Villeneuve from its line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is still unclear whether the 1997 Formula One world champion will return to Vanwall later in the season.

Vanwall has secured Tristan Vautier as Villeneuve's replacement. Vautier has raced with JDC-Miller in US IMSA since 2018 and took his first victory at Sebring last year, along with teammates Loic Duval and Sebastien Bourdais. Dillmann and Guerrieri will be his teammates.


Many setbacks

Villeneuve made his World Endurance Championship debut this year with the Vanwall Hypercar team, joining Dillmann and Guerrieri in their Vandervell 680 LMH car. The Canadian had a difficult start to the season, with a crash in Portimão, for example, with his brakes suddenly failing also. During the six hours of Spa and in Sebring, things also went wrong after accidents, which were not Villeneuve's fault.

Recently, Villeneuve spoke to GPblog about his adventure in WEC. In it, among other things, he indicated that he had been looking forward so much to driving a full season in the endurance championship.