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The track is covered with snow, which high winds can kick up into a blinding cloud. Racing sleds, which look a little like army half-tracks with steerable skis instead of front wheels, are high performance machines capable of speeds exceeding 150mph. They are less stable than cars and each kicks up a huge cloud of snow and ice chips as it roars around the half-mile oval track. Visibility is poor for all but the race leaders and crashes are common. Fatalities are rare, but most drivers have suffered broken ribs or concussions at least once.Villeneuve, one of the oldest drivers on the circuit, has crashed more times than he can remember "This last one, I don't know what happened. I think somebody's ski caught my sled from behind and I flipped over," he said. "I got squeezed between the machine and the wall, and I don't remember what happened after that."What actually happened was that Villeneuve was knocked unconscious by the impact, suffered concussion and broke bones in his face, shoulder and ribcage.

He also damaged tendons in his left arm.Just over a month later he arrived in Beausejour, a small country town in the Canadian province of Manitoba, for the Canadian Power Toboggan Championships. It is the premier snowmobile race in Canada and this is the big event of the winter for the town. Drivers and fans came from all over North America for the race, and although the prize money for the winner was only $2,500 the prestige is enormous. Villeneuve has won twice, way back in 1974 and again in 1987. A crowd favourite, he was trying to become the event's first three-time champion. Villeneuve won his qualification heat for the final, averaging just over 100mph during his final run."The machine was really flying out there," he said "I just hope I can hold it together for the race. My shoulder gets pretty tired during the long runs."Race day produced absolutely perfect conditions - a clear, sunny sky, almost no wind and a temperature of -10C.

The grandstand was full of spectators, more than 2,000 of them, and the crowd buzzed with expectation. In the pit area, drivers and mechanics hurried around, making last-minute adjustments.From the start, though, Villeneuve was eclipsed by a young American driver, Terry Wahl, who took an early lead and held it throughout the 20-lap race The real battle was for second. Villeneuve took the first turn just behind Wahl, with Bruce Vessair of Ontario right behind him. Wahl's lead increased as Villeneuve and Vessair engaged in a furious battle. Wahl eventually won by a good five seconds, and Villeneuve nosed Vessair out for second.As Wahl was mobbed after the race, he smiled broadly and laughed, hardly able to believe he'd beaten Villeneuve "It feels just great," he said.

"But if Jacques had been feeling better, he probably would have won because he's got the fastest sled. He's still got all those wounds from Eagle River, and you've got to give him credit for even trying." As for Villeneuve, he just shook his head "It just wasn't there today," he said "Terry deserves all the credit. He ran a hell of a race."Someone then asked Villeneuve if he would be back next year The answer was instant "You bet," he said with a grin.. When Ayrton Senna left McLaren at the end of 1993, bequeathing the Australian Grand Prix as a parting gift, there were tears in the pit road as one of the sport's greatest eras and most remarkable relationships came to an end Last Sunday there were more tears at McLaren. But this time they were tears of joy, and relief, after David Coulthard had put in a flawless performance to win the same event in Melbourne, ending the team's 50-race drought. What's more, Mika Hakkinen backed him with a solid third place, giving McLaren sufficient points to establish a useful lead in the Constructors' Championship for the first time since 1991.

It was a tribute to perseverance. Time was when a McLaren grand prix victory had the inevitability of dawn following dusk. In 1988 Senna and Alain Prost won 15 of the 16 world championship rounds in the red and white cars from Woking; and the one they didn't win was going their way until a backmarker, Jean-Louis Schlesser, tripped up Senna in one of Monza's silly chicanes.But since Adelaide 1993, it has been a long, fruitless haul for Ron Dennis and his team, and they have been obliged to come to terms with a humbling decline in status. Few falls from power have been quite so embarrassing, or so enduring. No matter what McLaren did in the intervening years, none of the keys fitted the lock.The relationship with Peugeot in 1994 was uncomfortable, and an unfortunate misunderstanding with Chrysler left a bad taste as the American company withdrew from Formula One in considerable dudgeon. In 1995 the new relationship with Mercedes-Benz, a company not unused to success in F1 after brilliant campaigns in 1914, the 1930s and again in 1954 and '55, got off to a sticky start when, having signed Nigel Mansell to partner Mika Hakkinen, there was the embarrassment of discovering that the chassis was too cramped for the former champion, who then departed from active service after only two races. Fast test times proved a false dawn last season, and then Dennis split with Marlboro, the sponsor of 23 seasons. What made matters worse was not just the dominance of Williams, but the rise of the upstart Benetton, and the victories from Ferrari which kept the Italians ahead of McLaren in the all-time victory stakes, just when it had seemed inevitable that the British team would overtake.The sceptics, irritated by Dennis's apparent arrogance even in defeat, said that losing Honda in 1992, and then Senna to Williams for 1994, had exposed McLaren for what they had always been - a team as competent as any other, who had been rendered great by the most powerful engines and the best driver.Besides being an emotional reward for the effort which McLaren have continuously invested despite their tribulations, Coulthard's win was vindication of Dennis's unwavering faith in his technical department, particularly in the beleaguered chief designer Neil Oatley, who, rightly or wrongly, has come in for considerable criticism these past three seasons.Dennis has always stressed the team element of McLaren, and to his credit has never raked coals publicly.