A year after scary crash, a wiser Sebastien Bourdais is back at IMS

INDIANAPOLIS – Some Verizon IndyCar Series drivers don’t respect the danger that comes with racing, Sebastien Bourdais thinks.

They don’t allow enough time to react or space to maneuver. They disregard the consequences. They ignore the risks in order to function — something Bourdais can’t do. How could he?

As Bourdais tore around the track during Indianapolis 500 qualifying last May, he pushed his car to its limit, topping 231 mph on two laps. He recalled the car wiggling a bit as he came around Turn 1. Seconds later, Bourdais smashed into the wall at Turn 2.

The crash that fractured his hip and pelvis haunts him like a tattoo he can’t remove. It’s part of him now. There’s no way to avoid the reality that it could have been fatal.

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But Bourdais is a race car driver. So he manages his fear, applies what he learned from his nearly deadly mistake and even jokes about the wreck with his Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan team. Whatever it takes to keep his butt in that seat and hands on the wheel.

“It’s gallows humor because that’s what racing people do,” said Craig Hampson, Bourdais' lead engineer. “I was pleased when we came back for the test here a few weeks ago that he didn’t seem to be suffering any ill-effects, no ghosts talking to him, no demons. He just got down to business, driving around like normal.”

During that testing, Bourdais quickly began to see Turn 2 as just another corner. At first he didn’t know he’d feel.

Bourdais had already showed last year that he wasn’t afraid to return to racing. Just a few months after his IMS crash, he finished 10th at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinoins. He showed he could put himself in a position to win and deliver at the 2018 season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. He showed he could still pole at Phoenix, and tested well at the oval in Fort Worth, Texas, that he argues may be tougher than IMS.

“I think getting the pole at Phoenix was what gave me the most confidence about him because he had that same attitude at that qualifying run at Phoenix as he had at that qualifying run at Indy,” Dale Coyne said.

Hampson and Bourdais gained confidence from that finish, too. Bourdais took his car to the limit, a place where each little thing and its effect is magnified, and won.

“Every step is just a step toward full remission,” Bourdais said.

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Hampson called the pole an unexpected surprise. The now-injured Pietro Fittipaldi provided Bourdais with some advice and Bourdais was the final driver to attempt to qualify. It’s not that Hampson didn’t think they could, or can win the pole going forward, but after that crash things are different.

They aren’t willing to take the same level of risk in chasing the pole position as they were a year ago.

“No, I don’t think we would do that again,” Hampson said.

Bourdais alluded to as much in Phoenix when he told reporters his team was conscious of how his wife felt and didn’t want to upset her. Bourdais and Hampson are confident, but they don’t want to try anything too crazy.

“In order to go fast, particularly in qualifying, you have to have the car dancing on the edge and we stepped over the edge,” Hampson said of last year’s crash.

Even with all the good news so far this year, Bourdais is cautious of feeling too confident. He knows that the right car at IMS can build up a driver’s confidence too fast.

“It’s the dangerous thing about this place,” Bourdais said.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at JGuskey@gannett.com.