Description
1982 USGP West at Long Beach trophy awarded to Gilles Villeneuve for his 3rd place finish.
At this historic race Gilles drove his Ferrari 126 C2 Turbo hard to finish behind winner Niki Lauda (McLaren) and Keke Rosberg (Williams), in his final season in F1. Sadly this was Gilles’ second last full race ever, and subsequently, his second last trophy ever. Even more controversial, Gilles was denied this podium finish days after the race, as the unique rear wing on his Ferrari was deemed ‘illegal’. Regardless, the FiA did not take away his trophy, so Gilles, frustrated with this injustice, ended up giving it to a friend.
As far as we know, this is the only F1 trophy from this legendary driver in public hands. (K72C)
