Jacques Is Welcomed 'home'.

Jacques Villeneuve yesterday discovered the depth of support behind him for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, when he was presented with a giant 'good luck' card which has circled the city of Montreal all week.


Villeneuve, who, despite living in Monaco, still classes the Canadian race as his home grand prix, received the messages of support from British American Racing sponsor Teleglobe, and was presented with the giant "Vas-y Champion" card by company chairman Charles Sirois. The 1997 world champion thanked the city for its generosity, before going on to explain how he hoped that Sunday's race - on the circuit named after his late father - would finally give him the opportunity to see the chequered flag for the first time this season.


"It hasn't been easy so far - and it can only get better," Villeneuve said, "The pressure [in Canada] this year is not on getting a good result or winning, as it was in other years, but definitely on finishing this race. If you look at the last two events here, I didn't have a really good time in the race, so I will have to do better this time."


"The Canadian fans are great because they are such racing fans. They want to see a good show and, if something spectacular happens, they appreciate it and applaud. But they are not just there for me. They don't boo the other drivers - as sometimes happens at other races - and they are special in that way."