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V8: Villeneuve To Sub For Murphy At Townsville
"Like all drivers though, I am planning to first and foremost be competitive in the car as quickly as possible," said Villeneuve.
Media Release  |  Posted June 21, 2012  
1997 F1 champ Jacques Villeneuve, who competed at the 2010 Gold Coast 600 event at Surfers Paradise, will get his second taste of V8 Supercars racing at Townsville next month. (Photo: Kelly Racing)
Kelly Racing today announced Internationally renowned driver Jacques Villeneuve as the replacement for Greg Murphy in the next round of the V8 Supercar Championship on July 6-8. Villeneuve will take the wheel of the Pepsi Max Crew Commodore and make history becoming the first ever winner of the Formula One World Championship to drive in a stand-alone event in the V8 Supercar Championship.

“Jacques is a renowned and respected driver the world over and it’s with huge excitement that we welcome him into the Pepsi Max Crew. The style and persona of Jacques is something that will bode well with our team and his fresh perspective makes us very confident heading toward the Townsville round in July,” said Adam Burling, PepsiCo.

Commenting from his home in Montreal on accepting this special invitational drive, Jacques said, “I feel for Greg Murphy having to miss a number of races in the Championship as there is nothing worse for a race driver than sitting on the side lines with an injury and not being able to accumulate points in the Series. When this opportunity came up only one week ago, the stars all aligned and thankfully my commitments with the NASCAR Nationwide Penske Team in America and Porsche Super Car Events in Europe allowed me to grab the Pepsi Max Crew seat for the Townsville race in an instance. V8 Supercars is a spectacular Race Series and I had a great experience on the Gold Coast back in October 2010”.

“I have checked out the whole Pepsi Max Crew Graffiti concept and it looks wild . . . I also understand if time permits that the guys are thinking about a specific livery for the Townsville Race for me which will be cool. Like all drivers though, I am planning to first and foremost be competitive in the car as quickly as possible…. Your Championship is world class and I will be thrilled to do this Townsville race”.

On hearing this news, V8 Supercars CEO David Malone said, “It’s a real coup for North Queensland to have an international motorsport legend the calibre of Jacques coming to race in Townsville for three days. The Pepsi Max Crew Team has indeed pulled off a great coup to have such a big name in the car.This will be the first time an ex-Formula One World Champion has driven a V8 Supercar in a stand-alone event which makes history for our sport. For Townsville this is huge news, he is a household name worldwide”.

Rick Kelly said, “It’s not every day a decorated driver of Jacques calibre walks through your doors. His achievements at the highest possible levels of global Motorsport are huge. JVs upcoming drive with us is a win for everyone ... all our Staff, the Sport, the V8 Supercar Fan Base in Far North Queensland, and of course PepsiCo who have had a tough year with Greg’s unfortunate back injuries disrupting their Marketing programs. His driving and technical capabilities are sound and I have no doubt he will be quickly on the pace”.
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