Sébastien Bourdais Biography
Champcar and Toro Rosso F1 driver Sébastien Bourdais
Bourdais is emabarking on his maiden Formula 1 season after four Champacar titles. He will have high hopes for his Grand Prix racing future.
The 2008 Australian Grand Prix produced a sparkling debut performance from Formula 1 rookie Sébastien Bourdais. Despite retiring with engine failure near the end the Frenchman was still classified seventh, earning two World Championship points. Driving a Toro Rosso, which was an updated version of last year’s car, and on a day when many of his more experienced peers fell by the wayside due to their own mistakes, it was no mean achievement.
Realistically Bourdais will be competing in the Formula 1 midfield this season. The Toro Rosso should give him the opportunity to score a few points and find his feet in the strange new world of Formula 1. After this season however, he will be desperate for success because, above all, Sébastien Bourdais is a man used to winning.
Born in the motor sport mecca of Le Mans in 1979, racing was a way of life for Sébastien, with his father being a racing driver. Like so many others his racing career started in karts, at the relatively late age of 10. Following a couple of French titles he graduated to cars in 1995, driving in the Formula Campus single-seater championship. It was a promising beginning, with Bourdais finishing ninth overall.
1996 saw a step up into the French Formula Renault championship. He contested two seasons in the series, finishing second in the title chase in 1997, scoring four wins in the process. A move to French Formula 3 the next year brought more success and the Rookie of the Year award. In 1999 he managed to win the title outright, taking eight wins and three pole positions.
International Formula 3000 beckoned for 2000 and, driving for Alain Prost’s junior team he quickly acclimatised to the more powerful cars, finishing ninth overall in the championship with one pole and a best finish of second. A switch to the crack DAMS team in 2001 brought him his first Formula 3000 victory at Silverstone. Another change of teams in 2002 to Super Nova Racing saw Bourdais win the International Formula 3000 championship after Tomáš Enge was stripped of the title for failing a drugs test. 2002 also gave Bourdais his first taste of Formula 1when he tested an Arrows. He looked set for a race drive but, due to the team’s perilous financial situation, it never materialised. Late in the year he also tested for the Renault Formula 1 team.
Demonstrating his versatility Bourdais also claimed victory in the 2002 Spa 24 Hours race. He has also competed several times in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, with a best finish of second in 2007, driving for Peugeot. Bourdais has also scored a class win in the 12 Hours of Sebring and a stock car victory in the International Race of Champions.
In 2003 Bourdais became the first driver since Nigel Mansell to claim pole position on their Champcar debut. It was the start of an extraordinary period in the Frenchman’s career, driving for the Newman Haas team. As in Formula 3000 his first Champcar win came in England, at Brands Hatch during his debut season. By the end of the year he was fourth overall and Rookie of the Year.
Bourdais won his first Champcar title in 2004, scoring seven wins en route and never qualifying out of the top three. He followed up his success by winning the title again in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In his last title year Bourdais participated in several tests for the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 team and, in August of that year, it was announced that he would be one of their race drivers for the 2008 season. His track record is impressive and initial signs are that he will have little trouble adapting to Formula 1. He is definitely a driver to look out for.
