WHEELS OFF WEDNESDAY // GILLES VILLENEUVE & THE 126C

I thought we'd try something a bit different this Wednesday and feature a few cars (and drivers) that might have had trouble keeping all four of their wheels firmly on the tarmac. So to start things off, check out this incredible shot of Gilles Villeneuve as he man handles his Ferrari 126C at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Racing in the 1982 Formula One season, the Ferrari 126C was the teams first attempt at a turbo powered F1 car. It's 1.5-liter 120-degree V6 produced more than 600hp in qualifying trim, but was detuned to 550hp before the green flag waved. The turbo powerplant was mated to a six-speed sequential transverse gearbox and although the car proved to be quite fast, Villeneuve found the handling to unwieldy, as the car suffered from massive turbo lag, followed by a ferocious power curve, which upset the balance of the chassis. However, in 59 Grand Prix starts the Ferrari 126C collected 10 wins, 10 poles and 12 fastest laps // [comment]