Indianapolis, IN (May 11, 2017) – Following an up and down race at the previous round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Dale Coyne Racing, with drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Ed Jones, is looking forward to returning to the track this weekend for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Thanks to a great job by the DCR crew, Bourdais will be able to get back behind the wheel of the #18 Sonny’s BBQ car that suffered major race ending damage at the start of the previous round in Phoenix.
With his car now as good as new Bourdais is looking to return to his season-opening form this weekend, while rookie Jones hopes to continue making progress in what has been a promising rookie campaign so far.
Both DCR drivers have had success on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course these last few years in their respective series.
Minus last season’s event which ended before Turn 1 due to contact with another competitor, Bourdais has finished strong on the IMS road course. He placed fourth at both the inaugural event in 2014 as well as at the 2015 round, after starting just outside of the Fast Six, in seventh, for both races.
Jones made his first appearance at IMS in Indy Lights in 2015, placing third and fourth in the weekend doubleheader. The Dubai-born driver improved the following season by claiming pole positions for both 2016 races and took top honors in the first round of the weekend.
Jones and Bourdais will get to re-familiarize themselves with the IMS road course layout on Friday, May 12 with two practice sessions before heading into qualifying later in the day.
The INDYCAR Grand Prix will go green on Saturday, May 13 at 3:50pm ET and will be broadcast live on ABC from 3:30pm ET.
All non-televised sessions will be streamed live on racecontrol.indycar.com.
Sebastien Bourdais – #18 Sonny’s BBQ Honda
“It’s the beginning of May and the Indy Grand Prix is always an important event. Many times, it’s been a bit of a turning point in my season. Sometimes we’d have a rough start to the year and then it would go relatively well at the Grand Prix. Except last year, when it ended a little prematurely with Tony (Kanaan) who didn’t see us coming from the outside at the start. Generally, I’ve always performed well at the INDYCAR Grand Prix. It’s a track that I enjoy and I hope things will go well for us. I think we’re starting to understand a lot of little things with our aero package and other things so hopefully we can put everything together and put in a performance that will meet our expectations in both qualifying and the race.”
Ed Jones – #19 Boy Scouts of America Honda
“Last year, I qualified on pole for both races and won the first race. So, it’s been a good track for me in the past. It’s quite a European style circuit so I think that’s one of the reasons why I feel so comfortable there. I’m looking forward to getting out there in an Indy car. I think it’s probably one of our best chances to get a good result so far, this year. I feel like I can do that. We’ll have to see. It seems like the weather in Indy is really changeable at the moment so that can play a factor throughout the weekend but we’re ready for whatever. Hopefully we can make some more progress.”
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