Bourdais gets his groove back in Superleague Formula
Sebastien Bourdais may not have made a go of it in Formula One, but after winning the Champ Car World Series four years in a row and coming in second at Le Mans two years running, the Le Mans native clearly has plenty to offer. Between the lower formulas, touring cars, sports car racing and countless other forms of motorsport, there's probably more options for a failed F1 driver today than there ever has been before. So where did the French driver end up? Superleague Formula.
While we've seen this racing series around before, it's never really registered all that large on our radar screens. In a rather unusual cross-discipline sports initiative, the idea behind the Superleague Formula is to have teams representing the biggest soccer squads in Europe face off against each other on racing circuits using identical single-seater racers. Panoz DP09 chassis running 750-horsepower 4.2-liter V12s with six-speed sequential gearboxes and slick tires, to be precise. And while it may seem more like a publicity stunt than anything else, it has attracted a handful of former F1 drivers – including Robert Doornbos, Antônio Pizzonia and Giorgio Pantano – and has now snagged Bourdais.
The once promising French driver made his race debut this weekend for the Sevilla team at Estoril in neighboring Portugal, and won on his first time out. Not too shabby. Bourdais will, of course, be trying to find his way back into an F1 race seat, but in the meantime, football fans may want to hold him down for a while longer.
[Source: Superleague Formula]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Version 1.0 7:51AM (9/08/2009)
Well, we now know he wasn't the problem in the Toro Rosso stable... He's racking up trophies while STR are just getting nowhere...
Reply
Tael 7:53AM (9/08/2009)
winning on his debut race..
Reply
nuggetsmcduggets 7:58AM (9/08/2009)
Paging USF1...
Reply
LBuzzer 8:03AM (9/08/2009)
Werd.
But can they afford him?
And do they want him? USF1 will need a wily veteran than can set up a car for a hotshoe rookie that has all kinds of upside and drives for cheap. I'm afraid Bourdais is in-between right now.
Ian 10:13AM (9/08/2009)
Peter Windsor has often spo9ken that he admires SB's style of driving and his smoothness. At the min PW will give hi8m a test drive in the USF1 car (IMHO) to set a baseline for other contenders to try to beat. He makes the ideal experienced driver alongside a US young gun for 2010.
Swede 8:11AM (9/08/2009)
It's racing and football! Why didnt I know of this? Does Barca have a car?
Reply
Guitar Hero 8:20AM (9/08/2009)
No. Strangely no. I'm quizzed with that: The only local (I'm Spanish) team to get 5 titles in one year (National Cup, National League, Champions League, National Supercup, UEFA Super Cup) doesn't have a car.
Bruno Marques 9:11AM (9/08/2009)
Just a small correction. Superleague formula is not about the "biggest soccer squads in Europe". At least not only, if you look at the competing teams you'll find teams like Flamengo and Corinthians (two brazilian - hence south american and not european - teams).
Reply
Franz 10:53AM (9/08/2009)
Meh... that doesn't mean squat with regards to his proficiency in F1. Bourdais isn't the the first driver to suck in F1, but do well in other series. GP2 is pretty much an F1 feeder program, and look how many of those drivers have failed to measure up in F1. No matter which series you race in, the cars will handle different, and certain drivers will respond better to particular setup and handling characteristics. Plus, it is well known that Formula One cars are the most difficult, and technical to drive out there. That he's done well in champ car, and now winning this race doesn't automatically mean he has the chops to compete in F1. First Vettel outshone him, and young Buemi is now in the exact same car and did better than Bourdais ever did right off the bat in his debut race... and has been showing improvement since. No conspiracy theories or excuses here, but Bourdais has proven he just can't come to grips with the animal that is a Formula One car.
Reply
Franz 11:09AM (9/08/2009)
I also wanted to add that being good in F1 doesn't necessarily mean you'll be good everywhere else either. Ralf Schumacher, who although ended his F1 career on a low note had a decent F1 career overall, scoring 6 pole positions & 6 wins, plus many other podium finishes. So far he hasn't shone in DTM (only one season under his belt though). Juan Pablo Montoya, who's won races and championships in pretty much every open wheel racing series he competed in... from the Barber Pro Series right up to F1... has struggled in Touring Car previously, and isn't exactly setting things alight in NASCAR, only managing one pole and four wins in four years of racing. Some drivers will adapt more quickly to different machines, while some struggle. That's just the nature of motorsport in general.
AZZO45b 3:56PM (9/08/2009)
Franz... I fail to see your point on Montoya.
He's won in NAPCAR & is currently in position to make "The Chase". Previously had two seasons with a Dodge & team that hadn't won in years... things have seemed to change with Chevy & Ganassi's association with Earnhardt. (He should have WON the BY400 & was leading yesterday in Atlanta...)
I can agree with your other drivers... but I can also name numerous drivers who bombed out in F1 & have established themselves in other series.
Franz 6:04PM (9/08/2009)
You fail to see my point? It's kinda hard to miss: I'm just saying his transition to NASCAR wasn't the best. It took him a while to get competitive, and in all fairness he's still not very consistent in that particular series. He's been much more consistent in open wheeled machines and series of all types. This isn't a criticism, it's just following along the whole point I was trying to make all along: different drivers sometimes struggle with different rides, regardless of their successes in other machines and series.
I'm sure you can think of more drivers who sucked in F1 but did better elsewhere... and vice versa, as can I. There's no shortage of them. Likewise, Bourdais isn't the only Champ Car winner that has sucked in F1 either... remember Zanardi? All that does is help to reinforce my point even more. I don't get what you're confused about.
Javanese 11:15AM (9/08/2009)
He's fast but not F1 fast... Some people are race something else. Bourdais might be better at racing heavier cars which kinda explains why he's so good in champ car, superleague and LMP1 but not F1 cars.
Reply
why not the LS2LS7? 11:17AM (9/08/2009)
I presume this series was created from the scraps of the closed-down A1GP series?
I'm a believer in Bourdais. He really has a lot going for him, the only negative is that he's flunked out of F1 once already.
Reply
Shiftright 2:20PM (9/08/2009)
He wasn't exactly in a top shelf team, and you're only as good as your car. I wouldn't exactly call him an F1 failure...
AZZO45b 3:58PM (9/08/2009)
NO!
A1GP used Ferrari engines & a chassis based on a 05-06? F1 Ferrari.
AZZO45b 4:01PM (9/08/2009)
NO
A1GP had Ferrari engines & a chassis based on a 05-06? Ferrari F1 car
Phil 12:50PM (9/08/2009)
A1GP is still going I believe.. I don't think it's actually folded yet... since it's still listed as the support race for the Nikon SuperGP (Gold Cost V8 Supercars).
Reply
johdaxx 6:34PM (9/08/2009)
Heh - I wonder just how much the DP09 and DP01 are similar - engine differences aside, Bourdais did some good driving in the DP01. Likely, both of those Panoz' deriving more downforce from the underbody instead of the wings are a good deal less twitchy than a modern F1 car.
Reply