Sebastien Bourdais Qualifying Summary:
Sebastien Bourdais qualified the No. 18 GEICO – Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan car 10th for tomorrow’s INDYCAR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course in Speedway, Indiana. Bourdais went out in Group 2 in Round 1 of qualifying and posted a fast lap of 1:08.2670 putting him second in his group of 12 drivers advancing to the second round. In the second round he recorded a lap of 1:08.2998 putting him 10th on the speed charts which is where he will start tomorrow.
Sebastien Bourdais Race Quote:
“The No. 18 GEICO Honda team made a step forward after a really tough test. The guys did a really good job bouncing back. The first session this morning was really trying, but in the second practice we improved the car. We had a feeling we were going to need a bit more to make it into the Firestone Fast 6. We made a little adjustment, but it didn’t really help the car. In the second round we picked up too much understeer, but the GEICO car is good.”
Fast Facts:
Bourdais has now qualified in the top-10 six times in six attempts on the IMS road course (every year the event has been held) with a best starting position of third last year. He has finished in the top-five three times placing fourth in 2014, 2015 and 2018.
In the first five races of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season, Bourdais has a best qualifying effort of fifth at Barber. His first two qualifying efforts were plagued by red flags and he ended up starting 19th in the season opener at St. Petersburg, FL and 17th at Austin. He qualified 14th at Long Beach in addition to today’s 10th place effort.
Bourdais is driving the No. 18 GEICO – Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan entry this weekend in the INDYCAR Grand Prix.
Bourdais is eighth in the championship standings with 91 points just five points out of fifth place. He finished 24th in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida (non-team related issue ended his race), then put together back-to-back top-five showings finishing fifth at COTA and third at Barber to go along with an 11th place performance at Long Beach.
Bourdais is contesting his 14th NTT IndyCar Series season, fourth with Dale Coyne Racing and second with Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan.
The 2019 INDYCAR Grand Prix will be Bourdais’ 193rd NTT IndyCar Series start and sixth on the IMS road course.
Bourdais has a win on the IMS road course. He won here in 2012 in the Grand AM Rolex Sports Car Series although the course layout was slightly different.
In 192 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).
Bourdais, 40, is a native of Le Mans, France but resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Broadcast:
The INDYCAR Grand Prix, May 10-11, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in Speedway, Indiana is Round 5 of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season.
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