No joking here: Jacques to replace Trulli for final races?

[JohnHKart]

Autosport is reporting Villenueve is having a seat fitting at Renault this morning and could test the car this afternoon. Renault are denying it of course. Incredible!

John

[Railbird]

From Atlas:


The rumours, however, have been denied by Renault, who will not even be testing at the Spanish circuit.

"The reports currently flying around the internet are pure speculation, and we strongly deny that any replacement will take place," a Renault spokesman told Atlas F1 today.

"As an aside, the fact that such reports mention Villeneuve possibly testing at Jerez, when the team is in fact running at Silverstone, is a good indication of the level of factual content they contain.

"We will test, as planned, with Alonso and [Franck] Montagny at Silverstone, evaluating further performance developments prior to the final flyaway races of the year."

[chop456]

Jarno's not testing, at least.

Who gets the 2nd Toyota seat, Zonta, Briscoe or Trulli?

[Chaos]

Jarno's not testing, at least.

Who gets the 2nd Toyota seat, Zonta, Broscoe or Trulli?

Trulli

[TedN]

Update from AtlasF1.com ....


Villeneuve to Test for Renault Tomorrow
Tuesday September 14th, 2004

The Renault F1 team this evening announced that French-Canadian Jacques Villeneuve will test for them at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Canadian is expected to replace Italian Jarno Trulli for the three remaining races of the season. 1997 World Champion Villeneuve conducted a seat-fitting at the team's Enstone base today, and will begin acclimatising himself to the Renault R24 tomorrow at Silverstone.

"We have reached an agreement for Jacques to test for the team at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday," said team principal Flavio Briatore. "This test might lead to Jacques joining the team for the final three races of the season beginning next week at the Chinese Grand Prix."

Villeneuve last raced at last year's United States Grand Prix before leaving the BAR team. The Canadian was set to make an appearence at the Toronto Film Festival this week, however due to these latest events he has cancelled his prior commitments.



Ted

[jonovision_man]

Gotta love F1 :)

Renault spokesperson Monday : absolutely not, what a load, that couldn't possibly be true

Renault spokesperson Tuesday : we're happy to confirm... :)

jono

[TrueBrit]

Excellent news!!!!

Welcome back Jacques!!!!

[Railbird]

A good example of why not to believe anything until raceday.

Not that rumors aren't fun

[rabbit]

:cool::thumbup:

[TedN]

Further update on Truilli ....


Trulli Quits Renault
Tuesday September 14th, 2004
AtlasF1.com

Italian Jarno Trulli has left Renault, with immediate effect, after the team and the driver agreed to part ways.

Renault announced earlier this evening that former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve will be testing for the team at Silverstone tomorrow and on Thursday, stating he could race for the Anglo-French team in the remaining three races.

Trulli's relationship with Renault has soured over the last two months, and the Italian - who has yet to announce where he will be driving next season - was critical about the team's lack of support since the two agreed to part ways for next season. Renault, in turn, are believed to be unhappy with Trulli's performance in the last few races.

Having lost second place in the Constructors' Championship to rivals BAR at the Italian Grand Prix last Sunday, the Renault management met with Trulli's to find ways of resolving the dispute. The two sides have eventually agreed to cancel the remainder of Trulli's contract.

"We made an agreement between us and Renault, they agreed to all of our conditions, and we are happy about this," Trulli's spokesman told Atlas F1.

"Jarno and Renault have stopped working together at seven o'clock tonight, but Jarno would like to thank Renault for all the help over the last few years, and for all of our success together. We can start to work with our new team much earlier than we had expected."

Trulli's spokesman refused to reveal the name of the Italian's new team, but he is believed to be heading to Toyota.



Ted

[The Doctor]

Now I suspect Trulli will replace Zonta. Makes sense. Management says Jarno can begin working with new team much sooner. At best, Zonta will be the third driver next year. Jarno gets more acquainted with team, beats pants off of Ralf in '05, Toyota sacks both drivers midway through '06 because the car is better than the drivers.

Seems like Toyota to me.

[jonovision_man]

Toyota:
"We will make an official announcement concerning our drivers line up on Thursday morning," a team spokesman told Atlas F1. Asked if they might replace Ricardo Zonta or Olivier Panis in any of the remaining three races of the season, the spokesman said: "We do not plan to change our drivers line up for the three remaining races of the season."


There was much speculation that Toyota is contractually obligated to allow Zonta to drive in the event Panis or da Matta couldn't fullfill their duties, only thing that makes sense given Trulli's sudden availability.

jono

[4wheeldrifter]

Good to see an old face back in the mix. Too bad he'll end up being the equivalent of Jeopardy's Ken Jenning's (ie. Ferrari's) hapless vic's (rest of the field). :thumdown:

In any event, welcome back Jacky V.

[Dirty Sanchez]

I don't care as long as he moves over when the red cars come through... :laugh:

[Dr. Corkski]

Silverstone - 15/09/2004
1. K. Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes - 1'16"150 - 60 laps
2. T. Sato BAR-Honda - 1'17"128 - 86 laps
3. P. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes - 1'17"207 - 94 laps
4. O. Panis - Toyota - 1'17"269 - 101 laps
5. J. Button - BAR-Honda - 1'17"597 - 103 laps
6. R. Zonta - Toyota - 1'17"651 - 132 laps
7. M. Gene - Williams-BMW - 1'17"719 - 81 laps
8. F. Alonso - Renault - 1'17"794 - 37 laps
9. R. Schumacher - Williams-BMW - 1'18"383 - 37 laps
10. J. Villeneuve - Renault - 1'18"779 - 70 laps

Maybe the Flav just needed some skiing lessons.

[Railbird]

Damned good for the first day back.

[RichK]

Damned good for the first day back.

Yep. First day in an unfamiliar car not set up for him, and he's only 1sec off of Alonso (assuming one of them wasn't running light, or testing new parts, etc.)

Should be an interesting end to the season!

[rabbit]

Not bad for being out of a car for the last 10-11 months.

[oddlycalm]

I thought Ralph's insurance company wasn't going to allow him to drive yet?

oc

[Railbird]

They just told him to be veewwy careful.

[JT265]

They just told him to be veewwy careful.

Man, you're going against the grain now 'Bird, according to the sage posters anyway.

Which is why I like OC, 'cause since I've been a member, I've saved tons of $$$ on my Funk & Wagnalls subscription.


:rofl:

[theunions]

I thought Ralph's insurance company wasn't going to allow him to drive yet?

The time restricton they imposed ran out during or before the day(s) he would've been testing in advance of Monza, but for the actual Italian GP weekend he would've been in the clear.

[ilferrari]

http://f1.racing-live.com/photos/2004/tests29/diapo_173.jpg http://f1.racing-live.com/photos/2004/tests29/diapo_185.jpg http://f1.racing-live.com/photos/2004/tests29/diapo_176.jpg

I for one am happy to see JV back, although coming up alongside a Alonso with a year's experience... might not look too good. Still he has the Sauber contract, and he has shown that unlike others he would rather race cars than let his pride get in the way.

[solpadeine]

Times are getting better:

Silverstone - 16/09/04
1. T. Sato BAR-Honda - 1'17"397 - 82 laps
2. K. Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes - 1'17"400 - 94 laps
3. J. Villeneuve - Renault - 1'17"433 - 66 laps
4. R. Schumacher - Williams-BMW - 1'17"718 - 55 laps
5. M. Gene - Williams-BMW - 1'17"813 - 88 laps
6. J. Trulli - Toyota - 1'17"911 - 83 laps
7. A. Davidson - BAR-Honda - 1'17"960 - 71 laps
8. P. de la Rosa - McLaren-Mercedes - 1'18"401 - 93 laps
9. F. Montagny - Renault - 1'19"140 - 88 laps
10. R. Briscoe - Toyota - 1'19"147 - 84 laps
11. E. Bernoldi - BAR-Honda - 1'21"351 - 11 laps

[tantra]

Folks need to listen to an NPR station that carries the BBC World Service programing if they want immediate reporting regarding F1.
Jacques was interviewed by BBC this week and the report also stated he has inked a contract for next season.

[Hard Driver]

I was hoping he would make it back to Champcars. But I am also happy to see him in another team. I think he wasted a lot of time and talent at Bar.

I am curious how he will match up.