Full Throttle

Former Formula One and CART champion Jacques Villeneuve will make his debut in NASCAR’s second-tier series Nationwide on Saturday on a very familiar track.

The Iberville, Que., native will be at the wheel of the #32 Braun Racing Toyota at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named for his late father, another F1 star.

“Knowing the track as I do is obviously a big advantage, but I do worry about the Formula One habits that I have already formed,” said Villeneuve, who hoped to run full-time in the Sprint Cup this season before a lack of sponsorship cut short his effort. “My biggest worry is my brake lines. I will have to constantly remind myself not to use the Formula One brake markers that I am accustomed to.”

Villeneuve, the 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, last raced in Montreal in 2006 with the BMW Sauber F1 team. His best finish at the track on Notre Dame Island near downtown Montreal was sixth in 1996 while driving for Team Williams.

Villeneuve made seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts and ran two Cup races last season.

He tested the No. 32 Braun Camry last week on a road circuit in South Carolina.

“The test went really very well; almost better than I expected,” Villeneuve said. “Driving the Nationwide cars on the (road) course was a big surprise to me. It’s very different than the other cars I have driven. It was a great learning experience.

“The Braun Racing team was excellent to work with and, as the car became more familiar to me and we got into a rhythm as a team, it was a lot of fun. After the two days of testing, we got the car setup so that we should be very competitive this weekend.”

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