His return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, specifically Turn 2, brought out the candid sense of humor in Sebastien Bourdais.

The Frenchman’s body still aches from enduring an unforgettable qualifying crash in that corner during a qualifying run for last year's Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

After facing that turn for the first time since the crash on Monday morning during an open test, Bourdais was about to head for lunch when three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves approached on pit road.

“You good, my man?” Castroneves asked. “Comfortable?”

“Turn 2 still turns the same way,” Bourdais said. “It’s better when you’re not upside down, on fire though.”

The four-time Indy car champion would tweet later, “Pretty good day at the office. It sure feels nice to go thru turn 2 with 4 wheels on… (wink emoji).”

He admittedly didn’t know how he would feel about facing Turn 2 again. The last time he drove in there, Bourdais crashed and sustained multiple fractures to his pelvis as well as a broken right hip.

How could he not think about what happened? He always will.

“Well, yeah. Yesterday and the day before and every other day,” he said. “It’s not like I don’t wake up any day without feeling the consequences of what happened. It was not track specific. You make mistakes sometimes and that one bit me.”

His first two qualifying laps were quick enough to be No. 1.

“It’s too bad it wasn’t a two-lap run,” he said, smiling.

Bourdais, 39, proved he’s still a capable contender after driving the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan to a season-opening victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He’s tied for third in the Verizon IndyCar Series points.

His 37 victories rank sixth on the all-time list. The only active driver with more wins is Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing at 41.

“It definitely sets you back, when you have those kinds of incidents,” Bourdais said. “But the good thing is there’s more practice here than any other place. There’s plenty of time to get back in the groove and get comfortable again. I’m not concerned. I don’t feel like I’m doubting.”

Teams are getting acclimated to a redesigned car with a new universal aero kit, a process Bourdais referred to as an ongoing “investigation.” Monday was a positive start.

“With the quality of the drivers, there’s a solid 20 and maybe even more drivers that are probably capable on any given day, provided the right car,” he said of winning the Indy 500. “Last year, we just had the rocket ship. It was a rocket ship from the moment it hit the ground on Monday and all the way through the week, then when we topped Fast Friday and for the first two laps (of qualifying) until I screwed up.

“Last year, (lead race engineer) Craig (Hampson) and the guys gave me an awesome car … and it was working awesome, until it wasn’t.”

Bourdais and crew will continue to work out the kinks.

“At the end of the day, what are you going to say?” he said. “Ultimately, I made a mistake. Unfortunately, it cost us probably the shot at winning the ‘500’ and being on the pole. Can’t change that. All we can do is try again and hope that the car will be as quick as it was last year and give us the chance to execute.”

The desire to win this race is as strong as ever, if not more.

“It’s the Mecca of racing,” he said. “In open wheel, there aren’t many races that come anywhere near it. In our sport, it’s the Indianapolis 500. I’d love to win it for multiple reasons. It’s a tremendous achievement and it means a hell of a lot to everybody in that paddock. It probably means even more now that I’ve gone through what I’ve gone through here.”

He looked out at the front straight of the 2.5-mile oval and offered one more perspective.

“There’s a mystery you build with every track,” he said, pausing to laugh. “And this one didn’t quite end on the right foot last year, so it would be cool to set the record straight.”