Prior to his debut Jacques took the Alfa to the Vallelunga circuit outside Rome where he worked hard on familiarising himself with the car, establishing racing lines and shaving fractions of a second off his times. He also tried a single-seater but span off in to the tyre wall whilst trying to explore its limits.

That first race, at Pergusa on September 25, was spread over two legs and Jacques, at the ripe old age of 17, finished tenth. However, he was up against drivers such as former F1 stars Mauro Baldi and Johnny Cecotto, while two weeks later he was racing at Monza, mixing it with Ricardo Patrese and Nicola Larini.

Meanwhile his schoolwork was suffering, and his plans to contest the 1989 Italian F3 Championship meant that he had to make one of the most important decisions of his life. Quite simply his tutors were adamant that he couldn’t study and race - he was now approaching the exams that would get him admitted to university. A decision had to be made and Jacques made it.

He joined the PreMa F3 team with backing from Camel who believed in Jacques’ talents. During that first full season Jacques gave clear indication that his was a talent to be taken seriously, the record of five DNQs belies the fact that he was constantly improving, indeed he won the last round of the championship (Vallelunga) but was penalised for a ‘jump start’ and relegated to fourteenth.

His second season was altogether better, a sixth place at Pergusa in the second round of the championship made it clear that Jacques was gaining confidence, a strong second place at Binetto later in the year had the media salivating.

It surprised many when Villeneuve announced he was to remain in Italian F3 for a third season in 1991, and consequently the twenty-year-old was tipped to take the title. However the team made a major mistake when it came to its choice of chassis. Having previously run the Reynard, it now seemed that the Ralt was the ‘must have’ car. By the time the team had secured a supply, and Jacques had become acclimatised to it, it was too late for him to make a serious assault on the title. However, strong results at Magione, Imola and Monza saw him take sixth place.

As well as the Italian F3 series Jacques had raced in the prestigious Monaco and Macau events. At Monaco he qualified third but was ‘punted’ out of the race by Frenchman Laurent Daumet, while at Macau Villeneuve had a difficult time, finishing eighth overall well behind race winner, rising Scots star David Coulthard.

For 1992 PreMa were considering F3000 but were unsure of sponsorship, Villeneuve however had already been approached by the highly successful TOM’s Toyota F3 team with a view to contesting the Japanese Championship.

Villeneuve had grown tired of F3 in Italy and was firmly convinced that the Japanese Championship would be much more prestigious and that the TOM’s Toyota team was better equipped to help him climb the ladder. The idea of F3000 appealed to him but PreMa simply couldn’t find a sponsorship package.

The move to Japan proved to be the making of Villeneuve, his race craft improved constantly and free of the glare of publicity that had almost smothered him in Europe, he seemed to flourish. He made friends with the other European drivers contesting the series including Rickard Rydell, Tom Kristensen, and Mika Salo.

Sixth in the opening round at Suzuka was followed by fourth at Tsukuba and third at Fuji followed by wins at Nishi-Sendai, Mine and the final race of the series at Suzuka. Villeneuve missed out on the title, which went to Englishman Anthony Reid, by seven points. In addition to the Japanese F3 series Jacques competed in the Monaco F3 event where an opportunistic move by the French Canadian resulted in him damaging his front wing and slipping back to finish ninth. At Macau he was competing against drivers such as David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. Having qualified an impressive fifth, Jacques gave determined performances in both heats and finished third overall.

In addition to his F3 activities, Jacques added to his experience by competing in the final round of the Japanese Endurance series. Partnered by Eddie Irvine and Tom Kristensen, Villeneuve finished second in the Toyota Group C car.

Several significant things happened in 1992. In August Jacques was invited to Canada to race in a Formula Atlantic event at Trois Rivieres. The people behind the invitation were Player’s the tobacco company. The event attracted record crowds, as Trois Rivieres is deep within ‘Villeneuve country’, Jacques Sr. was called in to action to make the event that little bit more special. The 70,000 spectators went home happy.

Meanwhile, Jacques had sought out Pollock to act as his personal and business agent. Pollock agreed, and steered the young Canadian through the intricacies of contract negotiations Formula Atlantic and IndyCar before moving on to Formula One. Villeneuve’s successes, including victory in the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and Drivers’ titles in both the PPG Indy Car World Series (1995) and FIA Formula One World Championship (1997) all reflected on his manager.