Page "Gilles Villeneuve" Paragraph 7

Money was very tight in Villeneuve's early career.

He was a professional racing driver from his late teens, with no other income.

In the first few years the bulk of his income actually came from snowmobile racing, where he was extremely successful.

He could demand appearance money as well as race money, especially after winning the 1974 World Championship Snowmobile Derby.

His second season in Formula Atlantic was part-sponsored by his snowmobile manufacturer, Skiroule.

He credited some of his success to his snowmobiling days: " Every winter, you would reckon on three or four big spills — and I'm talking about being thrown on to the ice at 100 miles per hour.

Those things used to slide a lot, which taught me a great deal about control.

And the visibility was terrible!

Unless you were leading, you could see nothing, with all the snow blowing about.

Good for the reactions — and it stopped me having any worries about racing in the rain.