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St. Petersburg's Sebastien Bourdais grabs IndyCar Detroit win

 
Sebastien Bourdais earns his second victory in the past two seasons, pulling away after a late restart at the second Dual in Detroit.
Sebastien Bourdais earns his second victory in the past two seasons, pulling away after a late restart at the second Dual in Detroit.
Published June 1, 2015

DETROIT — The first caution period began about midway through the race.

It was followed by another. And another. All the way to the final laps.

It made for tedious viewing for fans — but the constant cycle of starting and slowing was exactly what Sebastien Bourdais needed.

"At one point, we had to make the call whether we were going to stay out and gamble that all the yellows were going to keep going," Bourdais said. "It sure looked like it was going to be that way."

On a wet day at Belle Isle, the St. Petersburg resident had enough fuel to make it to the end for his first IndyCar victory this year in the second of two weekend Dual in Detroit races.

There were eight caution periods, shortening the race from 70 laps to 68 because of a two-hour time limit.

"Had it not been a timed race, we would have not made it," Bourdais said.

The native Frenchman held on in his No. 11 Chevrolet, finishing 1.8 seconds ahead of Takuma Sato. Graham Rahal was third for his third podium of the season.

Penske Racing teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves crashed late, leading to a red flag with 5:33 left. Bourdais led but was concerned because he had hoped a yellow-flag period would help run more time off the clock. After the red, there was another caution before the restart.

"I kind of dragged my feet a little bit on the last caution lap," Bourdais, 36, said. There wasn't time for 70 laps, and he held on after the final restart.

"I think Sebastien's restart was, to be honest, a bit tricky," Sato said. "He decelerates, so we all had to brake, which is not really what we talk about at the briefing."

Sato had passed Montoya on a previous restart, and Bourdais said he was trying to avoid that scenario.

"Seeing what he did to Juan, yeah, I became pretty creative at the restart, for sure," Bourdais said. "I wasn't going to give it up."

It was the four-time Champ Car champion's 33rd victory of his career and second since joining KVSH Racing last season.

Rahal was pleased with third, though disappointed that he was ordered to give up position to Sato late in the race for blocking.

"I don't think it was deserved, based on what the rules are," Rahal said.