Exhibit Gilles Villeneuve - 40 years

Exhibition at the Giacobazzi Museum, Nonentela, Italy

July 2022

For once, I am talking about an exhibition that is over, but in a place that does not lack interest for F1 fans. In July 2022, the Giacobazzi / Gavioli Cantina Museum, located in Nonentela, a few kilometers from Modena, paid tribute to Gilles Villeneuve, 40 years after his death (1982). When Gilles Villeneuve arrived in Italy to race for Ferrari, he was still little known in Europe, and Enzo Ferrari asked his friend (and client) Giacobazzi to support him financially. Giacobazzi, one of the major vineyards of Lambrusco, emblematic of the Modena region, will appear on the pilot’s suit. Giacobazzi will remain his sponsor throughout Gilles Villeneuve’s career, and it will result in a lasting friendship, which is the reason for this tribute in the exhibition space of the Cantina. In addition to the tasting and sale of wines from the estate, there is a wine museum that introduces to the cultivation of the vine and the production of wines, with the tools used during the 200 years of history of the vineyard.

Cars

The Giacobazzi are fans of cars and F1, and several F1 cars are on display in the museum: a Ferrari 312 T4 (1979), a Williams Renault FW16 (1994), which was driven by Ayrton Senna at Imola, a Ferrari SF 16 H (2016), plus some F1 shells and body parts. For the exhibition, the museum added some road Ferraris : a 412 belonging to Antonio Giacobazzi that Gilles Villeneuve had the opportunity to borrow from him, and a 208 GT Turbo that he tested in Fiorano.

Gilles Villeneuve

The short but legendary F1 career of Quebec driver Gilles Villeneuve was traced with many photos, drawings, paintings, quotes, and some films, with of course the famous wheel-to-wheel duel with René Arnoux at the 1979 French Grand Prix in Dijon, helmets, gloves and other memories of the driver. An exhibition full of emotions, in a small museum that is worth a visit if you are in Modena, a lover of F1 and wines.

The welcome is charming, the estate offers several choices of Lambrusco and Prosecco, enough to leave with a few bottles in memory of the region of Modena.

Giacobazzi Museum website: https://giacobazzivini.com/