1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve is the shock fill-in for Greg Murphy in the Pepsi Max Crew Commodore at next month’s Sucrogen Townsville 400.

The Canadian will take the wheel of the #51 Commodore and make a cameo appearance, replacing the four-time Bathurst winner in North Queensland who recently underwent surgery to fuse two vertebrae.

“I feel for Greg Murphy having to miss a number of races in the championship as there is nothing worse for a race driver than sitting on the side lines with an injury and not being able to accumulate points in the series,” said Villeneuve from his home in Montreal.

“When this opportunity came up only one week ago, the stars all aligned and thankfully my commitments with the NASCAR Nationwide Penske team in America and Porsche Supercup in Europe allowed me to grab the Pepsi Max Crew seat for the Townsville race in an instant.

“I have checked out the whole Pepsi Max Crew Graffiti concept and it looks wild.

“I also understand if time permits that the guys are thinking about a specific livery for the Townsville race for me which will be cool. Like all drivers though, I am planning to first and foremost be competitive in the car as quickly as possible.

“V8 Supercars is a spectacular race series and I had a great experience on the Gold Coast back in October 2010.”

Villeneuve last sampled a V8 Supercar at the 2010 ARMOR-ALL Gold Coast 600 when he shared The Bottle-O Falcon with Paul Dumbrell.

The 1995 Indy 500 winner paired with Dumbrell to finish 22nd on Saturday after being involved in a lap one accident. They returned to finish fifth in the Sunday race.

The Canadian is one of only three men to have won the Formula 1 World Championship, Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series, joining Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi in the rare club to have won the ‘triple crown’.

“It’s real coup for North Queensland to have an international motorsport legend the calibre of Jacques coming to racing in Townsville for three days,” said V8 Supercars CEO David Malone.

“This will be the first time an ex-Formula 1 World Champion has driven a V8 Supercar in a stand-alone event which makes history for our sport. For Townsville this is huge news, he is a household name worldwide.”

Queensland Tourism Minister Jann Stuckey said attracting such a big name would raise the profile of the Townsville event and attract worldwide attention to the region.

“The Sucrogen Townsville 400 is already a highlight on Queensland’s motorsport calendar,” Minister Stuckey said.

“To have Jacques Villeneuve, a world champion from multiple categories, race in Queensland, is a big win for the event, and a big win for the state.

“The 2011 event was a huge success for the region, with more than 150,000 people attending; delivering an economic boost of more than $18 million. With great talent like Villeneuve in 2012, the event is expected to again deliver fantastic results.

“The Sucrogen Townsville 400 will be followed by the ICC Cricket World Cup in August and the NRL test in October, which demonstrates the Newman Government’s commitment to hosting major international events in Queensland.”

Villeneuve is competing this weekend at Road America for Penske Racing in the first race of a two-race road course deal, driving the team’s #22 NASCAR Nationwide Series entry.

He will again step behind the wheel of the Penske-run entry on August 18 in his home city of Montreal after he competes in Townsville.