Sebastien Bourdais

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Sébastien Bourdais (born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

He is one of the most popular drivers in American Championship auto racing, winning 37 races.

He has won four straight championships under Champ World Series sanction from 2004 to 2007. Since 2009, he competed in Formula One for the Toro Rosso team and the 2009 season, and he has raced sports cars throughout his career, winning his home race in the GTE-Pro class.

Bourdais last raced in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan in 2019.

He is currently licensed to drive the No. In the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.R full time.

Early years

Bourdais began racing in Le Mans at the age of ten (his father Patrick competed in touring cars, hill climbs, and sports cars). He competed in a number of karting championships in the early 1990s, winning the Maine Bretagne League in 1991 and the Cadet France championship in 1993. Bourdais was part of the winning Sologne Karting team that triumphed in the 1996 24-hour Le Mans kart race at the Circuit Alain Prost on a Merlin chassis with Atomic motors.

Bourdais made the transition to single-seater racing in 1995, finishing 9th in the Formula Campus by Renault and Elf Championships. After winning four races and five pole positions in 1997, he spent two years in the French Formula Renault Championship, eventually finishing second in points. In 1998, he finished in five races to become Rookie of the Year (6th overall) in French Formula 3. In 1999, he won the series outright, with eight victories and three poles.

Bourdais joined the Prost Junior Team in the International F3000 Championship after his success in the lower formulae. He finished ninth in the series with a single pole and a best finish second. Bourdais made his first appearance in Formula 3000 in 2001, winning his first match in the series at Silverstone. For 2002, he changed teams, winning three titles and seven pole positions in his Super Nova Racing car. He defeated Giorgio Pantano by two points after Tomá Enge, who had scored the most points, was suspended for failing a drug test.

Bourdais' racing career ended when he saw no prospects for promotion to Formula 1, and the Indy Racing League's David Sears, his company's chief, introduced a clause in his deal that allowed him to leave without penalty in the event of a crash. Bourdais tried for Opel but did not enter in a DTM race because he managed to get a ride in CART for 2003. Bourdais was set to be paid €250,000 for his 2003 with Opel.

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Champ Car career

Bourdais moved to Champ Car racing in the United States, following in the footsteps of recent F3000 graduates Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira, and joined Newman/Haas Racing in the 2003 CART season. Bourdais became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to win pole position in his first race at St. Petersburg, Florida. However, he did not finish higher than 11th in his fourth run until his fourth race, when he led 95 laps to his first Champ Car victory at Brands Hatch.

He won again at the Lausitzring after this triumph. He had five more podium finishes by the end of the season, with one winning from the pole at Cleveland. He captured the Rookie of the Year title and finished fourth in the overall standings with a runner-up finish in Mexico City.

In 2003, Bourdais was paid $70,000 to drive for Newman/Haas Racing.

Bourdais controlled the Champ Car series for four years, winning seven victories and eight poles in his McDonald's-sponsored Lola, defeating teammate Junqueira by 28 points. He has also won in ten out of 14 events and qualifying results that were no lower than third all season.

Bourdais defended his Champ Car title in 2005 with five victories in six races leading up to the season's conclusion, as well as the Newman-Haas/Lanigan team. In his first Indianapolis 500, he finished 12th in May.

Bourdais captured their third straight Champ Car title in 2006. His season began with four straight victories at Long Beach, Houston, Montermont, Montery, and Milwaukee, but his winning streak was ended early in the season by the emergence of A. J. Allmendinger, who won three races in a row through the middle of the season. Bourdais won from pole at San Jose, leaving him in first place in Champ Car points standings.

However, an incident involving his arch-rival Paul Tracy that knocked him out on the final lap of the following race in Denver narrowed the gap between the two teams, which was followed by a win by Allmendinger. Bourdais' win in Montreal and Allmendinger's DNF had widened his points lead to 62 points in three races, and Bourdais clinched the championship in Surfers Paradise despite poor results in the first round. Bourdais became the first Champ Car driver to win three straight titles after Ted Horn's 1948 hat trick.

Bourdais won their fourth straight Champ Car title in 2007, beating Lexmark Indy 300 on October 21.

Formula One career

Bourdais completed his first F1 test with the Arrows team in 2002 and was hired to drive for the team but the team was on the brink of bankruptcy. He tested for Renault at Jerez in December, but Franck Montagny, a fellow Frenchman, managed the test drive instead of Bourdais.

After being tested with Scuderia Toro Rosso for several weeks, Bourdais returned to Formula One in 2007. Bourdais will rename Vitantonio Liuzzi at Red Bull's b-team, Toro Rosso, as a teammate to Sebastian Vettel, on August 10, 2007. Bourdais took part in his first Formula One Championship event, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, on March 16th. He rode his way into seventh position in qualifying in his first Formula One race since other pilots' absences in the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix without traction monitoring, winning his way to fourth position. However, Bourdais had to abandon after three laps of remaining an engine malfunction, but he was still ranked 8th having completed more than 90% of the race distance. He inherited seventh position (and two Championship points) after Rubens Barrichello's disqualification.

Bourdais also placed ninth in the Belgian Grand Prix. He gained positions and remained in fifth place for a large portion of the distance, gaining as high as third position and on target for a podium finish during the run. On the last lap, the rain became heavier, and he was overtaken by several cars on wet tyres and finished seventh. Following the result, an emotional Bourdais was close to tears. This weekend was his best weekend of the season and his first World Championship points since Melbourne.

Bourdais qualified for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix in fourth place. However, his vehicle would not select first gear on the grid and would have to begin from the pit lane, a lap down (though the safety car did not start the race behind the safety car). Despite finishing a lap behind the race champion, teammate Vettel, in the second fastest lap of the season, only Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen went faster; only Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen went faster. He was 6th on the road but was banned from 25 seconds for causing an avoidable crash, but Felipe Massa took him to 10th place. Few accepted the decision, according to ITV Sport's Martin Brundle, who said during live TV coverage of the campaign that he felt Massa should be punished, although 99% of experts interviewed said he did not deserve a penalty; the FIA were under such public scrutiny at the time; the FIA under such scrutiny at the time, following a series of controversial decisions that they took the liberty of showing "stewards only" footage of the incident to support the decision.

During the winter, Bourdais put in a good show, but the Toro Rosso squad was still struggling with a drive going into the new year. Despite being confirmed as a Toro Rosso pilot for a second year, he partnered Swiss rookie Sébastien Buemi on February 6, 2009. Bourdais struggled to match his less experienced teammates despite two points finishes in the Australian Grand Prix and in Monaco. On the first lap of the season, Bourdais collided with Buemi's car as the field attempted to prevent a spun Jarno Trulli, putting the race for both drivers to an end. Heikki Kovalainen, a McLaren driver, collided with Heikki Kovalainen at the British Grand Prix Bourdais, effectively ending the contest for both drivers. After qualifying last by more than a second, he suffered a mechanical malfunction at the German Grand Prix.

Toro Rosso announced on July 16, 2009, that Bourdais will no longer be driving for the team. Franz Tost of Toro Rosso said that the relationship hadn't lived up to his hopes, and that Bourdais would be recalled as part of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Bourdais was advised by an attorney to file a lawsuit against Toro Rosso for breach of employment as long as he had a valid complaint. Toro Rosso settled the matter with a $2.1 million settlement to Bourdais in order to prevent litigation.

Sports and touring car racing career

Bourdais made several appearances in other championships while competing in the junior formulae and Champ Cars. In a Larbre Compétition Chrysler Viper GTS-R, he won the Spa 24 Hours in 2002 with Christophe Bouchut, David Terrien, and Vincent Vosse. In a Panoz Esperante, he also won his class at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring. He also participated in the International Race of Champions in 2005, winning his first stock car race at Texas Motor Speedway. During the 12 Hours of Sebring, he set the official lap record at Sebring International Raceway. In 2010, Bourdais raced with Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut, Emmanuel Collard, and Sascha Maassen for Crown Royal in a Daytona Prototype raced at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Bourdais had a record-breaking lap before the car was scrapped due to an engine malfunction, but with Collard at the wheel, the vehicle was unable to recover due to a mechanical failure.

Bourdais rode in the Mother Racing Ford Falcon V8 Supercar in October 2010, collaborating with Jonathon Webb in the Gold Coast 600. Bourdais won the inaugural Dan Wheldon Memorial Trophy in October 2011, while Jamie Whincup rode with Jamie Whincup in the Team Vodafone Holden V8 Supercar in the Gold Coast 600, winning Saturday's first race and finishing second in the second race. In the 2011 IndyCar season finale, Wheldon had been preparing to compete, but he was forced to miss the contest but a week earlier. Winning the V8 Supercar race meant that he was the only one to have won a race at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in both Champcar and Indycar, as well as V8 Supercar. He has also competed in the Bathurst 1000 once before finishing ninth with Lee Holdsworth in 2015.

Bourdais captured the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix Rolex Sports Car Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2012, partnering Alex Popow in the No. 111. 2 Starworks Motorsports is a division of the Daytona Prototype. Bourdais teamed up with Jamie Whincup in the Team Vodafone Holden V8 Supercar in October, winning the Gold Coast 600 after winning the race and scoring enough points on Sunday to win the competition. For the second time, the Dan Wheldon Memorial Trophy was also named to him.

With Joo Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2014. He finished second at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2015 and claimed the victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring, both with an Action Express Corvette DP.

Bourdais was named as one of the No. 4 drivers on November 22, 2019, the day it was announced that he had crashed his IndyCar series ride. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing/JDC-Miller Motorsports entry, as well as Joao Barbosa.

IndyCar career

At the 2005 Indianapolis 500, Bourdais made his IRL debut. Bourdais was 23rd in the championship's first full-time season with Dale Coyne, winning the fastest race lap at Edmonton.

In the IndyCar series, a switch to Dragon Racing Team for 2012-2013, first with the ill-fated Lotus, and then with increased Chevrolet power, he finished 25th and 12th, respectively. Bourdais held two pole positions and one victory by 2014, winning for two pole positions and one victory. Bourdais' stock increased steadily to top 20 positions in the world drivers' rankings by mid-2015, his second year racing for Jimmy Vasser's KV Racing team alongside teammate Stefano Coletti.

Sébastien Bourdais, 29, of Toronto, defeated the 1st heat race in Toronto, with Al Unser Jr. and Ryan Hunter-Reay as the third driver in the history of organized motor sport to win open-wheel Championship Racing victories under three sanctioning bodies (e.g., CART, and IRL sanction) in North America on July 20. Bourdais finished 2014 scoring 5 top-5s and 10th overall in the 2014 IRL championship against a strong field.

Bourdais defeated Al Unser Jr. in the second heat race at Belle Isle, Detroit, on May 31, 2015, just behind him in his 33rd victory and fastest race lap.

Bourdais dominated the field on 12 July 2015, he had the entire field a lap down at one point and won, his second game of the 2015 season. He came in 10th in points. Bourdais suffered with a lone victory at Detroit after KV Racing was reduced to one team for 2016. He came in 14th in points for 2016. Bourdais would make the switch to Dale Coyne Racing to drive the number 18 for the 2017 season in October 2016. Olivier Boisson, the KVSH race engineer, will also travel to DCR.

Bourdais won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, his first return to DCR after a qualifying accident on March 12, 2017. He started from ninth and made a late rear wing change to finish second in the Long Beach series, extending his lead in the series standings.

Bourdais was involved in a single-car accident in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on May 20, 2017. Multiple fractures of his pelvis and a fracture in his right hip were present in his case. The surgery was successful, but Bourdais was forced to miss the majority of the season due to the drought. Bourdais will return to Gateway and compete in the final three races of the season.

Bourdais returned to the Dale Coyne Racing Team in 2018, partnering with investors James "Sulli" Sullivan and former racer Jimmy Vasser as Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. SealMaster and SportClips Haircuts were also sponsors, providing continued funding for the team. Bourdais debuted in the 14th Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, for the 14th time. On the first lap, he ended up losing a tire, but Will Power and Tony Kanaan's misfortunes kept him from going a lap down. He went on a random pit plan and ended up third with just a handful of laps to go. On the final restart, Alexander Rossi divebombed the first corner and got his tires fixed on the slick airport runway paint, and put on race leader Robert Wickens, who led 67 laps that day, with Bourdais winning by a small margin. It was his first victory since last year in St. Petersburg, and his first since the injury. Bourdais was upbeat on victory lane, and he said "he never doubted that he'd run in IndyCar again." Bourdais claimed pole at the upcoming Phoenix race, his first on an oval since 2006. Bourdais was also the only driver to lead laps at each of the first four races of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Bourdais will not return to the team in 2020, according to Dale Coyne Racing, who reported it on November 22, 2019.

Bourdais took over A. J. Foyt Racing in the 2020 IndyCar Series season, running the races in St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Long Beach, and Portland on February 4, 2020. In the rescheduled St. Petersburg final, he came in fourth, retaining his place in the Leaders' Circle program for 2021. Bourdais was named as a full-time driver for Foyt in 2021 on September 15th. Long Beach Bourdais' 2021 will be his last year in the IndyCar Series, and he plans to concentrate on sports car racing in the future. Bourdais, on the other hand, did not prohibit racing in a select number of IndyCar races, including the Indianapolis 500, in 2022 and beyond.

Motorsports career results

* The season is still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; times in italics indicate the fastest lap) — Keyboard (races in bold)

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Did not finish the race, but was listed as having completed more than 80% of the distance.

(key) (races in bold indicate pole position; in italics indicate the fastest lap; arrows in bold indicate the fastest lap) –

* Season is still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, while overall/class results indicate that the results are overall/class).

Bourdais did not complete enough laps to gain points.

Series Summary

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; times in italics indicate the fastest lap) explains the fastest lap)

* Season is still in progress.

† Not eligible for points

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