IndyCar – Bourdais wins ahead of Pagenaud

Sébastien Bourdais (Dale Coyne Racing) scored its first victory in IndyCar since Detroit (Michigan) last year by winning the Grand Prix of St Petersburg (Florida), the first event of the 2017 IndyCar season, after starting from the back of the grid following an accident during qualifying. This is his 36th success in the discipline.

The four-time CART champion took advantage of a good strategy by anticipating his first stop. By avoiding the salvo of stops under the yellow flag, the Frenchman was able to place himself at the forefront and finish ahead of his compatriot simon pagenaud (Team Penske). The reigning IndyCar champion had also missed his qualifying, but the Poitevin adopted the same strategy as his compatriot.

Will Power (Team Penske) seemed well on his way to completing the podium, but the pole winner suffered mechanical damage forcing him to retire.

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) was the first to benefit, the Australian also benefiting from the poor stop of Takuma Sato (Andretti Autosport) who lost several seconds in the pits due to a nut problem. The Japanese finally ranks 5th between Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) and Helio Castroneves (Team Penske).

Discover the report of the St Petersburg Grand Prix produced by our special correspondent in issue 2105 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.