-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
IndyCar
INDYCAR: Sports Car Interlude For Bourdais
While the rest of the IndyCar drivers are taking a breather between Brazil and opening practice for the Indy 500, Sebastien Bourdais is racing sports cars at Spa.
Sebastien Bourdais has traded his black and gold Dragon Racing firesuit for Dome's white overalls this weekend at Spa. (Photo: John Dagys)
It wasn’t that long ago when most of IndyCar’s top drivers packed their calendars with sports car races.
With Honda, through its Acura brand, and rival Porsche entrenched in a fierce battle for LMP2 honors in the American Le Mans Series between 2007-2008, the likes of Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti and Ryan Briscoe could be found filling their free weekends with endurance events.
But with both manufacturers now out of the high-dollar, high-stakes prototype game, only two members of the IndyCar guard continue to straddle both forms of the sport.
Countrymen and factory Peugeot drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud were dealt a blow when the manufacturer abruptly ended its LMP1 program earlier this year, leaving Pagenaud without a replacement drive next month at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For Bourdais, a native of Le Mans, missing his home race wasn’t an option. With the world’s greatest endurance race just six weeks away, Bourdais is busy preparing for the famed event this weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, taking part in the six-hour FIA World Endurance Championship race.
Driving a Judd-powered Dome S102.5 LMP1 car entered by Henri Pescarolo, Bourdais and former Ganassi CART pilot Nicolas Minassian have a massive task ahead of them to tackle the likes of Audi and Toyota, but the four-time Champ Car champion told SPEED.com that despite the long odds of winning the race with a privateer team, passing on Le Mans didn't feel right.
“My love for sports car racing is pretty undeniable,” he said. “It was a case of looking for something else to drive, or not racing at Le Mans this year. I spoke with Henri and was like, ‘Yep, I’ll do it.’ We’re not going to win, but the Dome people have something to prove--that their car is a good car, so we’re going to give it a fair shot.”
After years of being a key member of the Peugeot’s fearsome diesel-powered program, Bourdais will get a taste of life among the disadvantaged petrol-powered teams, this time using a John Judd-built 3.4-liter customer V8.
“Obviously, we know engine-wise, we can’t compete against the diesels and it’s going to be awful tough to go against the Hybrids, but we still have some guys in our league,” he explained. “We’re just going to concentrate on our thing and prepare for Le Mans. With some good driving and a good crew around us, I think we can put on a good show.”
With a full-season, 15-race deal in place to drive for Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing team in IndyCar, Bourdais accepted Pescarolo’s invitation to drive at Le Mans on the open weekend of June 16-17. But with IndyCar making the Milwaukee Mile a late addition to the IndyCar calendar on the same weekend, Bourdais found himself with a date conflict that, by contract, fell in favor of the Japanese-owned Dome program.
With three IndyCar races ahead of Milwaukee, Penske won’t have to rush to sign a replacement to drive the No. 7 car in Wisconsin, but a stand-in will be required while Bourdais is racing around the clock in France.
“Had I known the complete outcome of the schedule in IndyCar, I would have probably stayed away from [Le Mans],” Bourdais conceded. “You would prefer to do the full championship, of course. When the opportunity came with Henri, there was still a slight chance Milwaukee was going to make it through on the date [of Le Mans], but it was a rumor, not a fact. I feel bad because I committed to the team, and then when Milwaukee was announced, I felt bad for Jay, but there wasn’t anything we could do.
"Our schedule is so compressed in IndyCar, that it doesn’t open it up much for us to do sports car driving. I’m sure that’s why you don’t see more of us doing the big sports car races during the season.”
With Honda, through its Acura brand, and rival Porsche entrenched in a fierce battle for LMP2 honors in the American Le Mans Series between 2007-2008, the likes of Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti and Ryan Briscoe could be found filling their free weekends with endurance events.
But with both manufacturers now out of the high-dollar, high-stakes prototype game, only two members of the IndyCar guard continue to straddle both forms of the sport.
Countrymen and factory Peugeot drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud were dealt a blow when the manufacturer abruptly ended its LMP1 program earlier this year, leaving Pagenaud without a replacement drive next month at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For Bourdais, a native of Le Mans, missing his home race wasn’t an option. With the world’s greatest endurance race just six weeks away, Bourdais is busy preparing for the famed event this weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, taking part in the six-hour FIA World Endurance Championship race.
Driving a Judd-powered Dome S102.5 LMP1 car entered by Henri Pescarolo, Bourdais and former Ganassi CART pilot Nicolas Minassian have a massive task ahead of them to tackle the likes of Audi and Toyota, but the four-time Champ Car champion told SPEED.com that despite the long odds of winning the race with a privateer team, passing on Le Mans didn't feel right.
“My love for sports car racing is pretty undeniable,” he said. “It was a case of looking for something else to drive, or not racing at Le Mans this year. I spoke with Henri and was like, ‘Yep, I’ll do it.’ We’re not going to win, but the Dome people have something to prove--that their car is a good car, so we’re going to give it a fair shot.”
After years of being a key member of the Peugeot’s fearsome diesel-powered program, Bourdais will get a taste of life among the disadvantaged petrol-powered teams, this time using a John Judd-built 3.4-liter customer V8.
“Obviously, we know engine-wise, we can’t compete against the diesels and it’s going to be awful tough to go against the Hybrids, but we still have some guys in our league,” he explained. “We’re just going to concentrate on our thing and prepare for Le Mans. With some good driving and a good crew around us, I think we can put on a good show.”
With a full-season, 15-race deal in place to drive for Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing team in IndyCar, Bourdais accepted Pescarolo’s invitation to drive at Le Mans on the open weekend of June 16-17. But with IndyCar making the Milwaukee Mile a late addition to the IndyCar calendar on the same weekend, Bourdais found himself with a date conflict that, by contract, fell in favor of the Japanese-owned Dome program.
With three IndyCar races ahead of Milwaukee, Penske won’t have to rush to sign a replacement to drive the No. 7 car in Wisconsin, but a stand-in will be required while Bourdais is racing around the clock in France.
“Had I known the complete outcome of the schedule in IndyCar, I would have probably stayed away from [Le Mans],” Bourdais conceded. “You would prefer to do the full championship, of course. When the opportunity came with Henri, there was still a slight chance Milwaukee was going to make it through on the date [of Le Mans], but it was a rumor, not a fact. I feel bad because I committed to the team, and then when Milwaukee was announced, I felt bad for Jay, but there wasn’t anything we could do.
"Our schedule is so compressed in IndyCar, that it doesn’t open it up much for us to do sports car driving. I’m sure that’s why you don’t see more of us doing the big sports car races during the season.”
INDYCAR BRAZIL
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
V8: Coulthard, Whincup On Top In Qualifying At COTA
Brad Jones Racing and Red Bull Racing Australia end up on top for… -
PHOTOS: V8 Supercars COTA Gallery
UPDATED: View more than 90 photos from Austin as V8 Supercar drivers… -
V8: COTA Friday Notebook
John Dagys explores some of the storylines from the first… -
V8: Lowndes Quickest On Friday At COTA
Red Bull Racing driver tops time charts in opening day of practice… -
INDYCAR: Viso Hits 229.537 On Wet Friday At Indy
Fast Friday's activities turned into Wet Friday just past 3 p.m.… -
MILLER: Indy Needs To Become The Week Of May
Despite decent to great weather, the Speedway has been empty the… -
INDYCAR: 230 MPH Pole Speeds At Indy Possible On Saturday
If the conditions are right on Saturday’s run for the pole,… - More News
