TORONTO – Inactivity? Sebastien Bourdais grins at the notion. Whether at home in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his two daughters or in his profession, rarely does the four-time CART champion have extended time to kick back.
Take his IZOD IndyCar Series month break – June oval races at Texas, Milwaukee and Iowa during which Katherine Legge drove the TrueCar car for Dragon Racing. Following the June 3 race at Belle Isle, Bourdais competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series’ Six Hours of the Glen (third place).
Returning for the Honda Indy Toronto, Bourdais qualified a season-high fourth and was in line for a podium finish until sliding into the Turn 1 tire barrier because of slight contact with the car driven by Charlie Kimball on a restart with three laps left. His seventh race of the season didn't end as he would have liked, but it showed progress for the team.
"That would have been great for the whole Dragon Racing crew. But we'll try again," said Bourdais, who will drive in the next four races in addition to testing a Grand-Am car July 9 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Bourdais’ season didn’t kick off the way he’d like, with the team having an underpowered engine until switching to Chevrolet for the Indianapolis 500 in late May and no testing since he shared a Dallara chassis with Legge at Sebring International Raceway in early March.
“It's interesting sometimes to put yourself in positions where you’re really kind of struggling,” Bourdais said. “As long as you can see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Bourdais will test the Dragon Racing car July 12 at Sonoma Raceway and is scheduled to spend a day at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 26 in advance of the Honda Indy 200 on Aug. 5.
Expanded Canadian schedule possible
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford praised Green Savoree Promotions and INDYCAR for another successful event at Exhibition Place. The race (in its 26th year) has an estimated $50 million economic impact for the city.
“It creates thousands of jobs. I’m a businessman, that’s why I got into politics. We have 189 cranes in the air and we’re turning the city around, and this is one of the best events we have every year.”
Added Honda Indy Toronto vice president and general manager Charlie Johnstone: “We try to make this a community festival event and we couldn’t do this without the support of the city. It’s one of the best stops on the IndyCar circuit.”
INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard isn’t ruling out another IZOD IndyCar Series event in Canada to complement Toronto and the Edmonton Indy on the City Centre Airport circuit (July 22).
“It’s no secret we would like to have that third race (in Canada), (but) not at the expense of Toronto and Edmonton,” Bernard said. “It needs to be a market that we can continue to grow INDYCAR. I know many people would like to see that Canadian triple crown again.
“This is the right time to build (the series) up here. When you have someone like James (Hinchcliffe) who is up there kicking butt, who has a great persionality, a great sponsor and is with a great team, you want to build around him.”
Bernard expects the 2013 schedule to be finalized by Sept. 1. He will meet with Phoenix International Raceway president Bryan Sperber this week about a race in the future, and he said Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky is “doing a complete analysis” about the prospects of an IZOD IndyCar Series race.
Dixon the first out
Scott Dixon, who started fifth, climbed out of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car in the Turn 1 runoff on Lap 8 because of an issue with the Honda engine, according to team managing director Mike Hull.
Dixon entered the race 15 points behind front-runner Will Power in the championship standings. He was using the fifth engine (the final fresh engine allowed under the lease agreement for the season), but will not face a 10-grid spot penalty if an engine change is necessary because it occurred in the race.
Of note
INDYCAR is in discussions with Rogers Sportsnet to be its Canadian broadcast partner. TSN/TSN2 currently broadcasts IZOD IndyCar Series races. ABC and NBC Sports Network are the U.S. broadcast outlets. … Robert Herjavec, star of ABC’s “Shark Tank” and a Toronto resident, was the grand marshal.