Bourdais return to Coyne made official - MotorSportsTalk

Sebastien Bourdais’ switch back to Dale Coyne Racing for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season has been confirmed on Wednesday.

NBCSN contributor Robin Miller broke the news for RACER.com during the Watkins Glen weekend that Bourdais, the four-time Champ Car champion, would leave KVSH Racing after three years and join Coyne’s team. When Bourdais came back to IndyCar in 2011 after a two-year sojourn in Formula 1 and other sporadic sports car appearances, it was with Coyne.

Bourdais then drove for Dragon Racing in 2012 and 2013 before moving to KVSH in 2014.

Along with the driver news comes the additional announcement that Bourdais will have some incredible engineering strength. He’s also reunited with Craig Hampson, formerly of Andretti Autosport, who he worked with at Newman/Haas Racing in Champ Car. And Olivier Boisson, who’s been with Bourdais at KVSH, comes over as well.

Bourdais’ first test will be at Gateway Motorsports Park on Thursday.

“Back in 2011, Dale was the one who gave me the opportunity to come back to IndyCar, and I’m looking forward to a very exciting second stint with his team,” Bourdais said in a release.

“Thanks to Dale’s leadership and unconditional commitment to the series, we have been able to assemble a great group of guys, including Olivier Boisson, my race engineer for the last three years, as well as my former lead engineer from the Newman/Haas Racing days, Craig Hampson. The addition of these two great minds and friends, to Dale Coyne Racing’s existing group, will undoubtedly give me a great chance at running up front with a competitive car..

“I would like to thank Chevy and KVSH Racing for their support and trust in me over the last few years,” continued the Frenchman. “Now, a new chapter has begun and it would not have been possible without Honda’s commitment to our effort. I am thrilled to be able to get things going this early, and can’t wait to discover my new machine this week at Gateway!”

That confirmation of Honda squashes any rumors Coyne would move to Chevrolet for 2017. With Chip Ganassi Racing switching from Chevrolet to Honda for its four cars, at least one and potentially two teams will need to switch the other way.

Coyne now has a driver confirmed in October and explained how the team will work operationally with the new hires.

“Sebastien has been on our radar ever since he left IndyCar to go to Formula 1 in Europe. We were honored to bring him back to the States to return to his roots in 2011, and even more excited about what our future prospects will be in 2017 and beyond,” he said.

“We have assembled a great group of guys over the past few years and with additions to our engineering department for 2017, we are definitely ‘putting the band back together’. We will have some greats from the Newman/Haas era of Craig Hampson chief engineer, Todd Phillips Chief Mechanic, Oren Trower as lead mechanic, Colin Duff and others all from the Newman/Haas team. Needless to say we look forward to 2017 with great anticipation.”

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)