IndyCar: Bourdais opens strong for KVSH; Coletti impresses despite late stop for KV

By Mar 30, 2015, 12:00 PM EDT
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ST. PETERSBURG – Rare is a sixth considered a “good” finish, but for Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet, it was Sunday.

The Frenchman came second among non-Penske drivers, sixth overall and in the top-10 in the season opener for the first time in nearly 10 years, so it actually made for a decent day’s haul in the Verizon IndyCar Series’ season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Bourdais made his North American open-wheel debut on the same streets in 2003, with a track record time that stood until Saturday, but ended a lapped 11th.

Outside of a third-win-win streak at Long Beach from 2004 to 2006, Bourdais’ season openers have been something to forget.

His finishes since that 2006 win at Long Beach: 13th and crashed at Las Vegas (2007), a DNS due to a warmup crash at St. Pete (2011), 21st and retired with electrical in a Lotus at St. Pete (2012), and 11th and 13th the last two years.

Bourdais’ Sunday was uneventful, clean and consistent, en route to his best finish yet in his hometown.

“It was a solid result for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing team, but it was a bit up and down,” Bourdais said, via a team release. “Initially, it felt like we had something special going. I got TK (Tony Kanaan) and the car had good pace. Then I made a couple of mistakes and a restart didn’t go my way. After that, Sato hit us and we lost three positions.

“It was one of those races where you controlled the damage, but you don’t feel you have achieved what you were capable of. I am satisfied with the result and happy for the team, they did a good job. It’s a good start to the season.”

Bourdais’ teammate Stefano Coletti impressed on debut in the No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, making several separate charges into the top-10 before pitting with four laps to go, which took him from eighth down to 20th.

Coletti, who started 17th, went from the back of the field to close to the top-10 four times, passing a total of 15 cars during his IndyCar debut. At one point he went from 21st to 12th in 10 laps, and on one restart he gained four spots in a single lap.

“The KV Racing Technology team gave me a great car today, but unfortunately we didn’t have the result to prove it,” said the Monegasque rookie. “The car was fast and I overtook a lot of people. Every restart I overtook several cars, improving three or four positions. Obviously, I am disappointed with the final result. I had some issues and had to make up a lot of positions so I used a lot of fuel.”

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”