On May 8, 1982, Villeneuve died after an accident during the final qualifying session for the
Belgian Grand Prix at
Zolder. At the time of the crash, Pironi had set a time one-tenth of a second faster than Villeneuve for sixth place. Villeneuve was using his final set of qualifying tyres; some say he was attempting to improve his time on his final lap, while others suggest he was specifically aiming to beat Pironi.
[37] However, Villeneuve's biographer Gerald Donaldson quotes Ferrari race engineer
Mauro Forghieri as saying that the Canadian, although pressing on in his usual fashion, was returning to the pit lane when the accident occurred. If so, he would not have set a time on that lap.
[38]
With eight minutes of the session left, Villeneuve came over the rise after the first chicane and caught Jochen Mass travelling much more slowly through
Butte, the left-handed bend before the
Terlamenbocht double right-hand section. Mass saw Villeneuve approaching at high speed and moved to the right to let him through on the
racing line. At the same instant Villeneuve also moved right to pass the slower car. The Ferrari hit the back of Mass' car and was launched into the air at a speed estimated at 200 to 225 km/h (124 to 140 mph). It was airborne for more than 100 m (330 ft) before nosediving into the ground and disintegrating as it somersaulted along the edge of the track. Villeneuve, still strapped to his seat, but without his helmet, was thrown a further 50 m (160 ft) from the wreckage into the
catch fencing on the outside edge of the
Terlamenbocht corner.
[38][39]
Several drivers stopped and rushed to the scene.
John Watson and
Derek Warwick pulled Villeneuve, his face blue, from the catch fence.
[40] The first doctor arrived within 35 seconds to find that Villeneuve was not breathing, although his pulse continued; he was
intubated and ventilated before being transferred to the circuit medical centre and then by helicopter to
University St Raphael Hospital in
Leuven where a fatal
fracture of the neck was diagnosed.
[41] Villeneuve was kept alive on
life support while his wife travelled to the hospital and the doctors consulted specialists worldwide. He died at 21:12
CEST (
UTC+2).
[38] An inquiry into the accident was led by Derek Ongaro, the
Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) safety inspector.
[42] It concluded that an error from Villeneuve caused him to strike Mass' car and exonerated the latter of any responsibility for the accident.
[43]
