INDYCAR: Bourdais—The Biggest Impact Of My Life

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Bourdais—The Biggest Impact Of My Life

IndyCar drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden were lucky to walk away from their scary 140 mph crash at Sonoma.

Marshall Pruett | Posted August 27, 2012

Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden were fortunate to walk away from their scary crash during the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, but as they explained to SPEED.com, the after effects of the 140 mph incident carry both physical and financial repercussions.

“I don’t think I have anything that’s broken,” said Bourdais, “but it’s the biggest impact of my life I can remember having.”

The crash took place on Lap 65 at the rapid Turn 8/8a complex after Bourdais, who’d just left the pits on cold tires, fought to keep Newgarden—whose tires were up to temperature after pitting two laps earlier--behind him.

Bourdais qualified third for the 85-lap race and held the position up to that point, while Newgarden, after struggling through a difficult weekend, was a lap down in 20th at the time of the incident.

After dueling from the moment Bourdais exited the pits up through Turn 7, Bourdais and Newgarden rounded the hairpin side by side. The Florida-based Frenchman then ran wide in an effort to re-take the position from Newgarden before entering the right-left-right portion of the Esses.

Bourdais’ trip across the unused outer portion of the Turn 7 exit paid off as Newgarden was forced to fall in behind the No. 7 Dragon Racing entry, but it all went wrong as the four-time Champ Car champion attempted to navigate through Turn 8 as his Chevy-powered car shot through the dirt and collected Newgarden’s No. 67 car as the No. 7 veered across the track.

With the back of Newgarden's car punching through Bourdais' sidepod and striking the No. 7 car's tub near his shoulder, the Dallara chassis was destroyed, yet still protected its driver. (Photo: Sebastien Bourdais)

Newgarden seemed to get the worst of the exchange, piling nose-first into the tire barrier and pushing a pair of 5,000-pound cement barriers back a few feet before getting airborne, pirouetting and crashing back to earth.

The majority of the severe damage incurred by the No. 67 took place at the front of the tub when it rammed the barriers, although plenty of additional damage was done to bolt-on components in the crash. It was violent and demonstrative, but Newgarden was fortunate to have the No. 67 dissipate a lot of energy after the initial hit.

For Bourdais, who never actually touched the wall, his car—and his part—in the crash seemed minor, but the damage to the chassis of his Chevy-powered car was actually far more extensive.

Sliding sideways across the track and the dirt, the left side of Bourdais’ tub was center punched by Newgarden’s attenuator and gearbox as the 21-year-old Tennessean’s car ricocheted backwards off the barriers.

The concentrated blow from Newgarden’s car directly to the section of the tub where Bourdais’ upper torso rested split the chassis in the middle of the cockpit opening, and also cracked the vertical wall of the tub near the dash bulkhead and at the back near the fuel cell bulkhead.

“Looking at the tub, it’s terrifying,” said Bourdais, who snapped a few cell phone pictures of his car before leaving the track.

“The tub is cracked from top to bottom at the shoulder level. It bent the whole car. The [aluminum] skids were bent from the undertray to my head. The [No. 67’s] gearbox pushed the tub in; it didn’t penetrate the cockpit, but it wasn’t far from it. They couldn’t get my seat out of the car it was so bent.”

Looking through the telemetry from the No. 7, Bourdais’ engineers were unable to find any oddities like a punctured tire or some other mechanical cause for the crash.

“Going on the outside of Newgarden [through Turn 7] put a lot of crap on my tires, and when I turned into the Esses, it wouldn’t turn and I was a passenger,” he said. “I didn’t do anything special there; I have no idea what happened. All of a sudden I saw the car wasn’t turning, so I backed off and tried to catch it. I have no idea what happened. It’s a hard one to swallow.”

While Newgarden awoke Monday morning feeling no ill effects from the crash (barring his injured index finger on his left hand), Bourdais wasn't quite as lucky.

Between a lingering headache and significant pain throughout his body, the 33-year-old will need to heal quickly with opening practice at Baltimore just days away.

The moment of impact between both cars. Also note how far the cement barriers were moved on the right of the image. (Photo: IndyCar Series)

And with his chassis beyond repair—the first Dallara DW12 to be completely written off—the Dragon mechanics will need to switch his settings over to Katherine Legge’s No. 6 chassis for Bourdais to use this weekend.

Chevrolet told SPEED.com that Bourdais’ engine experienced some damage on the left side of the powerplant, but is repairable, and Newgarden’s Honda will also return to action at a later date. He'll have a fresh engine to use (with no penalty) for the rest of the season after the unit in his damaged car reached its mileage limit during the race at Sonoma.

Like Bourdais, Newgarden will also need to use a different chassis for Baltimore and hopes to get the all-clear from the series’ medical staff ASAP.

“I’m getting a CAT Scan done today on my finger and then I’ll see the Doc to see what he says after that,” he said.

Footage of the accident showed Newgarden remaining in his broken car for an extended period of time before climbing out under his own power. That pause, according to Newgarden, was to assess his overall condition.

Page 1 of 2