Sébastien Bourdais

Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (born 28 February 1979 in Le Mans) is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series. He won four championships in a row, from 2004 to 2007.

He drove in Formula One for the Toro Rosso team during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He was unable to repeat his past successes. Bourdais currently drives for Peugeot Sport in the Le Mans Series and for French football club Olympique Lyonnais in the Superleague Formula series.

 Early years 
Born into a racing family, Bourdais began his racing career at age 10 in kart racing. Bourdais progressed to single-seater racing in 1995, finishing 9th in the Formula Campus Championship. He then spent two years in the French Formula Renault Championship. He finished second in points in 1997. In 1998, he won five races to become Rookie of the Year (6th overall) in French F3. He won the series outright in 1999, with eight wins and three poles.

In 2000, Bourdais joined the Prost Junior Team in the International F3000 Championship. He finished ninth in the series. In 2001, he moved to the DAMS team and took his first win in the series. He changed teams again for 2002, joing Super Nova Racing. Bordais had three victories and seven pole positions. He won the championship by two points.

 Champ Car career 


Bourdais moved to Champ Car racing in the United States. He and joined Newman-Haas Racing for the 2003 CART World Series season. At St. Petersburg, Florida, Bourdais became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to claim pole position for his first race. His first Champ Car victory came at Brands Hatch.

For 2004, Bourdais dominated the Champ Car series. He had seven wins and eight poles in his Lola. His won his first championship. Bourdais won a fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007 with victory at Lexmark Indy 300 on October 21.

 Formula One career 
 Toro Rosso 

On 16 March 2008 Bourdais competed in his first Formula One Championship race, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. He finished the year in 17th place with four points.

Bourdais tested for the Toro Rosso team during the winter. On 6 February 2009 he was confirmed as a Toro Rosso driver for a second year. He had two points finishes in at the Australian Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix.

On 16 July 2009, Toro Rosso announced that Bourdais would no longer be driving for the team. It was reported that Bourdais was thinking about sueing Toro Rosso, claiming that the team breached his contract. It was then reported that Toro Rosso paid him $2.1 million to avoid legal action.

 24 Hours of Le Mans 
Bourdais has frequently raced the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. He entering for the first time in 1999, at the aged of 20. He drove a Porsche 911 GT2 run by Larbre Competition. He returned in 2000, finishing fourth with Emmanuel Clerico and Olivier Grouillard for the Pescarolo team behind the three dominant Audis.

His next three appearances did not go so well. In 2001 his car retired after 271 laps. The next year, he finished ninth in the LMP900 class. He missed the 2003 race and returned in 2004, but his car retired after 282 laps.

Bourdais' next race at Le Mans would come in 2007. He drove a factory-backed Peugeot 908. The car he shared with Stéphane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy finished the race second. In 2009 he drovr for the Peugeot factory team again. He finished in second place, one lap behind the winning Peugeot. Bourdais was to drive the pole-winning #3 Peugeot in 2010. A suspension failure halted the car before Bourdais could turn a lap in the race

 Superleague Formula 
After leaving Formula One, Bourdais signed up to drive the Sevilla FC car in the Superleague Formula series. He won on his debut weekend at the 2009 Estoril round in the Super Final. Bourdais won again at the next round, winning race 1 of the 2009 Monza round. He returned for the 2010 season racing for Olympique Lyonnais.Bourdais joins Lyon for 2010

 Sports and stock car racing career 
Bourdais made several appearances in other championships. He won the Spa 24 Hours in 2002 in a Larbre Compétition Chrysler Viper GTS-R. He also won his class at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring in a Panoz Esperante. In 2005 he also competed in the International Race of Champions, winning his first stock car race at Texas Motor Speedway. In 2009, he set the official lap record at Sebring International Raceway, during the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2010, Bourdais raced in a Level 5 Motorsports prepared Daytona Prototype in Rolex 24 at Daytona, held at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

 Motorsports career results 
 Career summary 
 Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing 1995 French Formula Renault Campus ? ? 0 0 ? 9th 1996 French Formula Renault ? ? 0 0 ? 7th 1997 French Formula Renault La Filière 18 5 4 172 2nd 1998 French Formula Three La Filière 22 0 0 98 6th British Formula Three La Filière 1 0 0 0 NC Macau Grand Prix Equipe de France 1 0 0 N/A NC Masters of Formula Three ? 1 0 0 N/A 20th 1999 French Formula Three La Filière 20 3 8 229 1st Le Mans 24 Hours Larbre Compétition (GTS) 1 0 0 N/A NC Macau Grand Prix Equipe de France 1 0 0 N/A NC Masters of Formula Three ? 1 0 0 N/A 10th 2000 Formula 3000 Prost Junior Team 10 1 0 9 9th Le Mans 24 Hours Pescarolo Sport (LMP 900) 1 0 0 N/A 4th 2001 Formula 3000 DAMS 12 1 1 26 4th Le Mans 24 Hours Pescarolo Sport (LMP 900) 1 0 0 N/A 4th FIA Sportscar Championship Pescarolo Sport (SR1) 2 0 0 0 NC 2002 Formula 3000 Super Nova Racing 12 6 3 56 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans Pescarolo Sport (LMP 900) 1 0 0 N/A 10th FIA Sportscar Championship Pescarolo Sport (SR1) 3 1 2 55 4th 2003 CART World Series Newman/Haas Racing 18 5 3 159 4th 2004 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas Racing 14 8 7 369 1st Le Mans 24 Hours Pescarolo Sport (LMP1) 1 0 0 N/A NC 2005 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas Racing 13 6 6 348 1st International Race of Champions N/A 4 2 1 46 5th IndyCar Series Newman/Haas Racing 1 0 0 18 28th American Le Mans Series Larbre Compétition (GTS) 1 0 0 0 NC Rolex Sports Car Series Silverstone Racing 1 0 0 6 89th 2006 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas Racing 14 6 7 387 1st Grand-Am Cup GS ? 1 0 0 24 80th 2007 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 14 6 8 364 1st Le Mans 24 Hours Team Peugeot Total 1 1 0 N/A 2nd 2008 Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso 18 0 0 4 17th 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours Team Peugeot Total 1 0 0 N/A 2nd Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso 9 0 0 2 19th Superleague Formula Sevilla FC 6 1 1 — — 2010 Superleague Formula Olympique Lyonnais 10 0 1 — — Le Mans 24 Hours Team Peugeot Total 0 1 0 N/A N/A

 Complete International Formula 3000 results 
Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap (key)
 Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2000 Gauloises Formula IMORet SIL10 CAT8 NÜR4 MONRet MAG2 A1R9 HOCDNS HUN14 SPARet 9th 9 2001 DAMS INT3 IMORet CAT11 A1RRet MON4 NÜR8 MAG6 SIL1 HOC4 HUN3 SPA6 MNZ9 4th 26 2002 Super Nova Racing INT14 IMO1 CAT3 A1RRet MON1 NÜR1 SIL2 MAG2 HOCRet HUN3 SPA2 MNZRet 1st 56

 American Open-Wheel 
Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap (key)
 CART/Champ Car results 
 Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points 2003 Newman/Haas STP11 MTY17 LBH16 BRH1* LAU1* MIL9 LAG17 POR14 CLE1 TOR4 VAN3 ROA2 MDO5 MTL19 DEN2 MIA17 MXC2 SRF17 4th 159 2004 Newman/Haas LBH3 MTY1 MIL18 POR1 CLE1 TOR1 VAN5 ROA3 DEN1 MTL15 LAG8 LVS1 SRF2 MXC1         1st 369 2005 Newman/Haas LBH1 MTY5 MIL6 POR2 CLE5 TOR5 EDM1 SJO1 DEN1 MTL4 LVS1 SRF1 MXC17           1st 348 2006 Newman/Haas LBH1 HOU1 MTY1  MIL1 POR3 CLE18 TOR3 EDM2 SJO1 DEN7 MTL1 ROA3 SRF8 MXC1         1st 387 2007 Newman/Haas/Lanigan LVS13 LBH1 HOU1 POR1 CLE12 MTT2 TOR9 EDM1 SJO5 ROA1 ZOL1 ASN7 SRF1 MXC1         1st 364

 New points system introduced in 2004

 IndyCar results 
 Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points 2005 Newman/HaasHMSPHXSTPMOTINDY12TXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYPPIRSNMCHIWGLFON 28th 18

 Formula One results 
Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap (key)
 Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points 2008 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2B Ferrari 056 2.4 L V8 AUS7* MALRet BHR15 ESPRet TURRet 17th 4 Toro Rosso STR3  MONRet CAN13 FRA17 GBR11 GER12 HUN18 EUR10 BEL7 ITA18 SIN12 JPN10 CHN13 BRA14 2009 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR4 Ferrari 056 2.4 L V8 AUS8 MAL10 CHN11 BHR13 ESPRet MON8 TUR18 GBRRet GERRet HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU 19th 2
Did not finish the race but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race

 Superleague Formula results 
Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap (key)
 2009 
 Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 2009  Sevilla FC Reid Motorsport MAG ZOL  DON  EST MOZ JAR 11 2 1 3 2 6
 2009 Super Final results 
Super Final results in 2009 did not count for points towards the main championship.
 Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 2009  Sevilla FC Reid Motorsport MAG ZOL  DON  EST MOZ JARN/A1N/A2

 2010 
 Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2010  Olympique Lyonnais LRS Formula SIL ASS MAG JAR NÜR ZOL BRH ADR POR ORD TBA NAV 15 1 4 17 DN X 9 15 X 7 18 X 14 17 X

 Le Mans 24 Hours results 
 Year Team Car Team colleague Team colleague Final Placing 1999  Larbre Compétition Porsche 911 GT2  Jean-Pierre Jarier  Pierre de ThoisyDid Not Finish 2000  Pescarolo Sport Courage C52  Olivier Grouillard  Emmanuel CléricoRank 4 2001  Pescarolo Sport Courage C60  Jean-Christophe Boullion  Laurent RedonRank 13 2002  Pescarolo Sport Courage C60  Jean-Christophe Boullion  Franck LagorceRank 10 2004  Pescarolo Sport Courage C60  Emmanuel Collard  Nicolas MinassianDid Not Finish 2007  Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  Stéphane Sarrazin  Pedro LamyRank 2 2009  Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  Stéphane Sarrazin  Franck MontagnyRank 2 2010  Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  Simon Pagenaud  Pedro LamyDid Not Finish

 References 

 Other websites 

Official website
Le Site des Fans de Sébastien Bourdais  
Racing career

Category:1979 births
Category:Living people
Category:French Formula One drivers
Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Category:IndyCar Series drivers
Category:People from Le Mans
Category:Sportspeople from Pays de la Loire