FORMER Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve is being groomed for a race place in V8 Supercars this year.
The retired grand prix ace is the first choice to become the new team mate for Bathurst winner and touring car champion Russell Ingall at Super Cheap Racing.
Villeneuve has been targeted by Paul 'The Dude' Morris, who retired at the end of last year, and is a strong chance to race in Australia.
"This is real. Absolutely. He is pretty keen to do it," Morris told the Herald Sun yesterday.
"It would be the full season. Not just one race.
"If we can make a bit of a buzz about it then I think it can definitely happen. We would have to write about $2 million in sponsorship so we could run the car and pay him to drive."
The Villeneuve deal surfaced halfway through last year when Morris was talking to one of the the French-Canadian's management team, expatriate Australian Barry Green. He knows Green from the time when he raced in the USA and Green is linked to Villeneuve in much the same way as he competed in Champ Cars and won the Indianapolis 500 before graduating to Formula One.
"Barry contacted me about getting him a ride for Bathurst last year.
But it was a bit late," Morris said.
He re-activated the link after retiring and deciding to put some guest drivers into his second Super Cheap Commodore alongside Ingall.
Morris has already tested Leanne Tander, and considered young gun Steve Owen, but was also drawn to American racer Boris Said who co- drove for him last year in the Bathurst 1000.
But he is hot for Villeneuve and wants to get him to Australia.
"Yes, I want it to happen. And I think it can," Morris said.
Villeneuve is a global superstar despite fizzing through the final years of his grand prix career with the BAR, Renault and Sauber-BMW teams before retiring in 2006.
He was second at the Australian Grand Prix in his first F1 start, with Williams in 1996, and would have won but for an engine drama which gifted the race to his team mate Damon Hill.
He won his world championship with Williams in only his second year in F1, but his results in Australia were marred by the crash which killed a track marshall Graham Beveridge in 2001.
Since his retirement from Formula One, and after a failed attempt at a music career, Villeneuve has made sporadic starts in other categories.
He has competed for Peugeot in the Le Mans 24-Hour race in France, raced Speedcar sedans in the Middle East and has also been trying to crack a regular drive in the Nascar series in the USA.
Morris believes he would be ideal in V8 Supercar racing and is pushing hard for a deal.
"Man, how good would it be? How long since we've had a Formula One car in touring cars in Australia?," Morris said.
"The last one was Alan Jones. And if he drives as good as AJ he will be alright."
Morris leaves next week for a business and racing trip to the USA when he is likely to meet Green to push the deal further.
"The next step would be to get him out here to drive the car," Morris said.
"He also has some sort of connection with French television, so I'm looking at how we could make that work."