From August 11th to September 23rd the Arengario exhibition spaces will host ‘Gilles Villeneuve. Il mito che non muore’ (Gilles Villeneuve. The legend lives on).

The illustrious career of the legendary Canadian racing driver began in 1977 and was cut short by a tragic accident on May 8th, 1982 on the Zolder track in Belgium.

Over 150 photographs by Ercole Colombo, with texts by Giorgio Terruzzi, will take the visitors through the emotive stories and great sporting achievements of this genuine and popular iconic figure.

The museum circuit starts from his early career and analyses the period of his youth when his passion for motors was really fired up. In 1973 he made his debut in the world of the single-seater: Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic and Formula 2 followed by his debut in Formula 1 with a McLaren in the British Grand Prix.

1977 marked a turning point for his professional life. Villeneuve met Enzo Ferrari for the first time on August 29th, in Maranello, and shortly afterwards Gilles made his debut for the Scuderia Ferrari, on October 9th, in Canada, replacing Niki Lauda.

The exhibition reconstructs the many track events and his great victories, hailed as strokes of genius in the history of Formula 1, up to Villeneuve’s tragic and fatal accident on the Zolder circuit in 1982.

It concludes with a section dedicated to his son Jacques who accomplished a sort of ‘family mission’ by conquering a historic trio of victories: the American Kart Championship, the Indianapolis 500 miles and, last but not least, the Formula 1 championship in 1997.

Some images from the Villeneuve Museum of Berthierville in Canada, along with a video made for the occasion with testimony from Ferrari's legendary motor engineer, Mauro Forghieri, as well as two of the driver’s personal racing overalls complement the exhibition.

Absolutely not to be missed on August 30th at 18:00 is the meeting with Ercole Colombo and Giorgio Terruzzi.

The exhibition is curated by Ercole Colombo and Giorgio Terruzzi, organized and produced by ViDi, in collaboration with Motorsport Images and the Gilles Villeneuve Museum.

Opening hours