Sebastien Bourdais, No. 18 Team SealMaster – Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan, captured the pole, but had a mishap in the pits and finished 13th last weekend in Phoenix, AZ. Combined with his victory in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener at St. Petersburg, FL, Bourdais now sits third in the championship standings with 70 points just two points out of second and seven out of first. The talented Frenchman will be looking for another strong performance on the streets of Long Beach where he has enjoyed a lot of success including two poles, three wins and a second place showing last year.
Sebastien Bourdais quotes:
“Long Beach is historically a track where I have had a lot of success and I have always enjoyed racing there. It is a great event. It’s going to be a matter of finding the two or three tenths of a second we were missing at St. Petersburg. Obviously, we’re in it (the championship race) so we just need to keep digging and see where we can take things, but it seems pretty clear that we have a good shot. We were obviously competitive at St. Pete, but I really wasn’t expecting us to be that strong at Phoenix. So we will just keep working and see how far we can go.
Fast Facts:
- Bourdais is contesting his 13th Verizon IndyCar Series season, third with Dale Coyne Racing and first with Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan.
- The 2018 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be Bourdais’ 174th Verizon IndyCar Series start and 13th on the streets of Long Beach.
- In 12 previous starts at Long Beach, Bourdais has qualified in the top-five six times with two poles (2006 and 2007 and finished in the top-10 seven times and on the podium five times with three wins (2005, 2006, 2007).
- In 173 career IndyCar starts, Bourdais has won 37 races (sixth all-time) and captured 34 pole positions (seventh all-time).
- Bourdais is the only driver to win four consecutive IndyCar championships (2004 – 2007).
- He competed in 27 Formula One races (2008-2009) and is an accomplished sports car racer having won the GT Le Mans class in 2017, the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours in the GTE Pro category (from the pole), the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans in 2015 and the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2014 (was runner-up in 2015). He has another pole and three runner-up finishes (2007, 2009 and 2011) at Le Mans.
- Bourdais, 39, is a native of Le Mans, France but resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Broadcast:
Round 3 of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series will be the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 13-15, on the streets of Long Beach, CA. Qualifying will be broadcast live on NBCSN at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 14. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN at 4:00 p.m. ET. It is also available on radio: XM 209 and IMS IndyCar Radio as well as online: IndyCar.com and Verizon IndyCar 15 app.
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