LONG BEACH, California — Double duty translated to Sebastien Bourdais shrugging both shoulders when asked about the challenge of juggling two races this weekend.
“It’s a bit of a gymnastic, but it’s OK,” the 40-year-old Frenchman said Friday about adding Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race to his schedule that, of course, includes Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series main event, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The four-time Indy car series champion was asked on Tuesday to fill in for Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT driver Joey Hand, who has been sidelined by the flu. Bourdais will team with Dirk Mueller in the No. 66 Ford GT in Saturday’s 100-minute IMSA race on the 1.968-mile temporary street course, which comes immediately after NTT P1 Award qualifying for the NTT IndyCar Series. Bourdais qualified the sports car fourth in the GT Le Mans class late Friday afternoon.
The driver of the No. 18 Team SealMaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda in INDYCAR has raced with Hand and Mueller for multiple endurance sports-car races in the past, including a 2016 class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bourdais said it’s not an issue jumping from one car to the other, though they are quite different.
“It’s different enough that you can’t quite get mix-matched. The speed, the braking points, everything happens so much slower with the GT,” Bourdais said. “A lot more weight and a lot less power, so it makes everything a bit different.
“It’s the first time I’ve driven anything other than an Indy car or a Champ car around here. It’s interesting.”
Bourdais won three straight Champ Car World Series races at Long Beach from 2005-07 and finished second here in the NTT IndyCar Series race in 2017. He’s coming off his first podium finish of the 2019 season with a third in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst.
“I felt really bad for Joey,” he said. “This is one race that counts and means a lot for him. When Mike (Hull, Chip Ganassi Racing managing director) called me Tuesday night, I was like, ‘Yeah, as long as Dale (Coyne) is OK with it, I’ll help you out.’ Here I am.”
Coyne said the switch involves only one rather minor concern.
“We’ve just got to make sure he’s got the right suit on when he gets in the car,” the team owner said with a smile.
Bourdais’ 37 career Indy car victories rank sixth on the all-time list, but he was born to drive just about anything. He has three second-place finishes at Le Mans, his hometown, and teamed with Hand and Mueller to win their class in the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“It’s what I’ve been doing for a long time,” Bourdais said with a grin about driving a race car.
Bourdais’ Saturday schedule begins with NTT IndyCar Series practice at noon (livestream on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold). NTT P1 Awards qualifying airs live on NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass at 2:45 p.m., with NBCSN’s coverage rolling directly into the IMSA race that starts at 5 p.m. Another name familiar to INDYCAR fans, Helio Castroneves, won the IMSA pole position in a Team Penske Acura.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the fourth race of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season, starts at 4 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network that includes network affiliates, Sirius 113 and XM 209.