24H Daytona – “A dream come true” for Bourdais

Sébastien Bourdais is starting the year in the best way since he became the first Frenchman since Emmanuel Collard in 2005 to win the 24 Hours of Daytona. Alongside Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, the four-time Champ Car champion held off the onslaught of the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP to finish on Victory Lane. “It’s one of the historic races that we dream of adding to our prize list”, commented the former pilot Peugeot who finished second three times at Le Mans. “It’s done now and we got there after an intense fight. This is real good news for the entire Chevy team. The staff was prepared. Everyone knew exactly what to do and how to do it. It's a dream come true. »

Jimmy Vasser, the co-owner of KV Racing Technology, is also delighted to see his new recruit at the top of his game before starting a new season in IndyCar. The first event will take place on March 30 in St Petersburg (Florida), the city where Sébastien Bourdais lives. “I am delighted that he is entering this new season with this victory which will give him even more confidence, a progression which dates from last year when he signed four top tens in the last five races. You don't win 31 victories and four Championships in a row if you don't know how to win. He led the team, he set the fastest lap… He was phenomenal. »

Sébastien Bourdais was not the only IndyCar driver present last weekend at Daytona. His compatriot simon pagenaud took 11th place with Extreme Speed ​​Motorsports' HPD ARX-03b. Ryan Hunter-Reay took the final step of the GTLM podium with SRT Motorsports, followed by Graham Rahal in one of Team RLL's BMW Z4 GTEs. Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan finished 15th in one of Chip Ganassi Racing's Riley-Fords. Mikhail Aleshin took fourth place in the GTD with SMP/ESM Racing. Justin Wilson (Michael Shank Racing), James Hinchcliffe (SpeedSource) and Ryan Briscoe (Corvette Racing), however, were less successful.