Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Bourdais Bounces from Last to First
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – RIS – Sebastien Bourdais cruised to an emotional victory Sunday to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - the first race of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Bourdais’, starting last, took an early pit stop that put him in position to pass defending IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud (who finished second). Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato rounded out the top five. Four of the top five were using Honda engines
Bourdais, from Le Mans, France, lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. A four-time Indy car champion whose crowns came during his time with Newman Haas Racing, Bourdais found himself without a ride this year after KVSH Racing closed their doors. Dale Coyne Racing with help from Sonnys BBQ and Honda salvaged the talented veteran from forced retirement. Coyne brought along Bourdais’ old team to tune his race car.
Bourdais’ qualifying effort was spoiled after his car went off-track and made contact during the first round of qualifying.
This was Bourdais’ first win at St. Pete and 36th overall Indy car victory. His most recent was at Belle Isle-1 in 2016.
Pole winner Will Power was the victim of several rounds of bad luck during the race. He finished 19th. Early in the race Power drove his Chevy powered race car into the pits with a vibrating right front wheel. Then during the pit stop he drove over his air hose and was forced to circle the track and take a stop – and - go penalty. Then he found himself slowing down due to engine issues. Too slow for IndyCar officials who ultimately black-flagged him for not keeping speed on the track.
The series next race is April 9 at the Streets of Long Beach.
Race Statistics:
Winner's average speed: 95.391 mph
Time of Race: 2:04:32.4153
Margin of victory: 10.3508 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 8 laps
Lead changes: 8 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Power 1-5
Hinchcliffe 6-26
Pagenaud 27-36
Bourdais 37-53
Pagenaud 54
Sato 55-56
Bourdais 57-81
Pagenaud 82-83
Bourdais 84-110
Dave Chess
Dave Chess has been writing for RIS since the late 1980s during the CompuServe days. His work has also appeared in Auto Week magazine, Chicago Gearhead News newspaper, ATA airlines in-flight magazine, National Speed Sport News and on many websites.