In preparation for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500, Jacques Villeneuve took part in the Orientation Refresher Test. While Villeneuve is not a rookie, he was required to take the test due to this being his first IndyCar event since 1995.
The veteran successfully passed the Orientation test as he demonstrated that he could handle the car, while completing the second and third speed phases of the rookie test.
“It took a while to get there. The first few laps were surprising because it felt like I was going fast and I looked and it was 180 (mph),” the 1995 Indianapolis 500 champion said. “I thought, ‘There’s still a long way to go,’ and then 190. And another 10 laps I started getting in the rhythm, and once you start going flat all around it becomes easy. I think your brain, your vision just needs to get used to driving at speed.”
Before rain began to fall on the 2.5-mile speedway, the Canadian recorded 83 laps in the No. 5 Dollar General sponsored car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, with his best lap being 217.742 mph.
“When I came here last time, I had already driven on ovals at high speed,” Villeneuve added. “It felt crazy fast back then and it felt crazy fast today. We weren’t trimmed out yet, but there was no point with the (25 mph) wind and the track was very green. At the end, we even managed to work on the mechanical set-up of the car and that made it nicer.”
Villeneuve’s next laps on track will be during the first practice session for the event, which is scheduled for May 11th, followed by qualifications on May 17th and 18th. If Villeneuve qualifies for the race, he’ll set a record for the biggest gap between starts held by Cy Marshall and Roland Free between 1930 and 1947.
