27/01/2008
NEWS STORY
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It would appear that Jacques Villeneuve has finally got round to severing his ties with manager, and close friend, Craig Pollock.
Just over a year ago, Pitpass reported that according to a an extremely reliable source, Villeneuve's relationship with Pollock was hampering the Canadian's prospects in NASCAR.
Now, after twenty years, the relationship appears to have reached its end, with some claiming that Villeneuve has finally seen the light.
As previously reported, in recent times all manner of plans for Villeneuve came to nought, mainly due to the insistence, on the part of Villeneuve, that Pollock play a major role.
Finally, with yet another prospective deal appearing to have fallen through, namely a regular NASCAR drive with Bill Davis Racing, Villeneuve has called an end to a partnership that started back in the early 1980s, when Pollock, then a sports teacher, first spotted the youngster. Years later, the pair met up again, this time in Japan where Villeneuve was racing. The rest, as they say, is history.
In addition to becoming almost inseparable, the Scot took over the youngster's affairs, guiding him through successes in CART - he won the 1995 title, in addition to winning the Indy 500 - and F1, where he won the 1997 World Championship.
Subsequently, however, and to the surprise of many within the industry, Villeneuve, who was considered one of the hottest properties in F1, went off with Pollock to form British American Racing (BAR), another venture which appeared to suffer heavily from the Scot's insistence at taking full charge.
In 2002, days before the start of the season, Pollock was fired, with Prodrive's David Richards taking the helm.
Villeneuve continued in F1, but by now, no doubt mindful of the baggage he carried with him, the offers were only coming from mid-league teams. In 2003 he joined Benetton, but parted company with the team on the eve of the final race of the season.
Having 'sat out' much of 2004, Villeneuve was recruited for the final three races following the dumping of Jarno Trulli, however, the Canadian appeared a little out of his depth, partly due to the fact he had been out of the cockpit for so long, and also the fact that he was matched with a super-fast Spaniard, Fernando Alonso.
Within 24-hours of signing the Renault deal however, Villeneuve signed a two-year deal with Sauber. In 2005, partnered by Felipe Massa, there were moments when he showed flashes of the old skills, but also moments of stupidity, such as knocking his teammate off track at Monaco.
Then in 2006, following an accident in the German GP, the Canadian was replaced by Robert Kubica. Within days, the team, which had now been bought out by BMW, revealed that it had parted company with the 1997 World Champion. His F1 career was over.
In addition to his NASCAR aspirations, Villeneuve has made no secret of the fact that he would also like to win the Le Mans 24-Hours, thereby completing one of motorsport's true grand-slams.
However, as we wrote a year ago, Pollocks's continued presence appeared to slam more doors shut than it opened. Finally, however, Villeneuve appears to have awoken to smell the coffee, with Yahoo Sports journalist Bob Margolis revealing the split at the weekend.
How Villeneuve's firing of Pollock as his manager remains to be seen, for the two have a number of business interests including a restaurant and car care products distribution business, while the two were also said to be involved in the making of a movie based on the life of Jacques father, the legendary Gilles Villeneuve.
Nonetheless, there will be many people delighted to hear that Jacques has finally shed some baggage, even if he won't admit it.