World Driving Champion Jacques Villeneuve remembers when he was 8 years old, driving at high speed with his famous race car driver father Gilles. "I kept telling my father to go quicker. I just loved that speed," he recalls. Gilles rose from humble beginnings in Richelieu, Quebec to international stardom in Formula One racing for Italy's Ferrari team. Observers marveled at the speeds that he was able to reach. He was a natural behind the wheel. But Gilles died tragically in 1982 during a race to qualify for the Belgium Grand Prix, leaving behind his young family including 11-year-old Jacques. The program examines the impact of Gilles' life and death on his son, Jacques, who at 15 years of age, returned to Quebec from his Monaco home to enroll in the same driving school previously attended by his father. The film follows Jacques' meteoric ascent in the world of racing, beginning with being crowned 1994 Indy Car Rookie of the Year and culminating in his stunning victory of the Formula One championship in 1997, the first Canadian ever to win. The film was shot in eight cities and inter cuts race footage with archival material as well as on-screen interviews with racing greats such as Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, and Jody Scheckter in addition to Jacques Villeneuve himself, his mother Joann and sister Melanie.
—MDF Productions Inc