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Atlas F1 News Service

Villeneuve's '78 Canadian GP Victory Elected Most Memorable

Wednesday June 14th, 2000

In an initiative created and implemented by MasterCard International, an official sponsor of the Jordan Grand Prix team, 40 Canadian F1 historians and journalists selected Gilles Villeneuve’s victory in 1978, the first F1 win by a Canadian driver, as the "MasterCard 'Priceless' Moment of the Canadian Grand Prix." The race was also the first Canadian Grand Prix to be held in Montreal.

Villeneuve in the wet in 1978Villeneuve’s victory in Montreal, which launched his legendary career, was selected as MasterCard’s "Priceless" moment from among a total of 12 Canadian Grand Prix moments as nominated by a panel of Canadian F1 historians and media. With 40 ballots returned, the 1978 moment garnered a total of 164 points -- more than tripling the point total of the second-place moment. In addition, the overall "Priceless" moment appeared on the most ballots, a total of 36, and received the most 1st place votes with 30. The selection process awarded five points for first place votes, three points for second and one point for third place votes.

Rounding out the top three MasterCard "Priceless" Moments of the Canadian Grand Prix are:

  • The Villeneuve family at the 1979 Canadian GPThe 1979 race-long, wheel-to-wheel battle between Alan Jones and Gilles Villeneuve, who finished in that order, in front of 100,000 enthralled spectators received a total of 45 points, appearing on 17 ballots and receiving a total of two 1st place votes.

  • Gilles Villeneuve’s amazing display of 'press-on-regardless' tenacity in his battered Ferrari on a wet track in 1981 (in his final home appearance before he was killed, in 1982) for which he won the 'fighting spirit' award after finishing third, behind Jacques Laffite and John Watson, claimed the third spot. Gilles’ remarkable effort received a total of 33 points and appeared on 13 ballots.