Jacques Villeneuve has admitted to losing sleep after a life-size bronze statue of his father, Formula 1 legend Gilles Villeneuve, was stolen.
A few days ago, operators of the Gilles Villeneuve museum in Berthierville, the birthplace of the Ferrari legend, Quebec, were stunned to discover that the statue, which had been there for three decades, had mysteriously disappeared.
"I'm stunned," said Jacques, 1997 world champion. “When I heard about this, I had trouble sleeping. Such soulless beings do not deserve to be called human.”
“My father represented Canada all over the world, and there aren't many people like that. It's shameful that there are idiots capable of such an act. They have no heart and nothing in the head.”
“Why would anyone do that? I don't understand. It's not like gold or diamonds that you can steal, hide and resell. It's incredible. It's a pretty big piece and heavy, it would take a lot of effort to cut it and it would take a big truck to collect it.”
“No one noticed, which I found even crazier. How can you not notice someone doing that? And what do we do with it? His feet are missing. We can't not sell it, because if we tried, people would immediately realize that it was the idiots who stole it.”
“If we melted it, it wouldn't be worth much. Bronze doesn't have that much value. So, it's useless… financially, with the amount it took to recover it, it didn't matter. no sense.”
Gilles died in a terrible F1 accident at Zolder in 1982. Two years later, artist Jules Lasalle created the bronze statue.
He told the Calgary Herald: “It's a huge disappointment. I hope we find the statue in one piece. The value of the metal is not that high, but for the people of Berthierville, the value is very high.”
In a social media post, the town of Berthierville – offering a $12,000 reward for information on the theft – said that “This crime deprives our community and motorsport fans around the world of a powerful symbol”.
In happier news, the famous charred and partially melted helmet that Niki Lauda wore during his accident at the Nürburgring in 1976 has been found.
The helmet disappeared in 1988, after its owner at the time, Gino Amisano – founder of the AGV helmet brand – lent it to the Milan Motor Show.
It has now resurfaced at a Bonhams charity auction in Miami, according to Italian magazine Autosprint, with a starting price of $60,000.
Lauda's damaged and legendary AGV X1 “Air System” helmet is now on display at the Dainese Archivio di Vicenza Italy, and can be viewed for free.
