Sebastien Bourdais

Racing drivers are all heroes for me. They all risk their lives at every second. Unfortunately, it is not rare to see drivers passing away just racing, living their passion. This aspect is already heroic to me. But apart from the courage they all have to drive dangerous but exciting cars or motorcycles, some of them have something else in particular. Sebastien Bourdais is, from my point of view, one of them.

Sebastien is a French racing driver born in Le Mans, France, about 28 years ago. His father Patrick was and still is what is called a "gentleman driver", which means that he is not a professional driver, but sometimes he goes behind the wheel for his pleasure. He participated nine times in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. He transmitted his passion for motor racing to his son Sebastien, whose wish has become during his youth to be a Formula One driver. Indeed, for all drivers, F1 is the top level, where the best competitors and the best cars are. And all dream of driving one of these powerful machines.

Sebastien in his F3000 during 2002 season. (http://www.sebastien-bourdais.com/)

Sebastien showed, while he was climbing the rungs of his racing career, he had a real potential as a driver, demonstrating a huge talent, a strong will to progress, and being a hard-working learner. Those qualities enabled him to reach the level just under Formula One, called at that time Formula 3000. He even won this world championship of young drivers in 2002, during his third year in the series, and was offered a contract with a Formula One team as one of their two 2003 race drivers. But his problems began here.

Sebastien testing an F1 car which will never race

The team where he signed went bankrupt some months before the start of the 2003 season. Then, he tested for the future double World Champion Renault, being slightly but regularly faster than Fernando Alonso, but the Spanish driver was prefered to him because Sebastien refused to sign Flavio Briatore, Renault F1 Team boss, as his personal manager. This made Briatore angry and he destroyed the Frenchman's reputation as a driver, declaring he was slow and unreliable. No other Formula One team was willing to engage Bourdais, even as a test driver. The door leading to F1 seemed closed for him.

Sebestien testing his Lola car from Champ Car (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/)

He had nothing to prove in F3000. But finally he was offered a great deal. Paul Newman, the famous actor but also a motor racing fan, owned a racing team with businessman Carl Haas, and both asked Bourdais to go to the US and test the car they engaged in the Champ Car World Series, a kind of American Formula One. This was a difficult choice for Sebastien. On the one hand, he would be able to show to about 300 million people what he can do with a wheel in his hands, but on the other hand, he would have to leave his family and his girlfriend Claire. He chose to go to the US. And to me, this was really a courageous decision. This is the kind of choice which can change a life. I know I couldn't make such a decision and this just made me admire him, not only his driving skills.

Sebastien posing with the Champ Car trophy (http://www.champcarworldseries.com/)

During his first year in Champ Car World Series, he impressed all the observers by taking the pole position for his first race at St-Petersburg, Florida, a performance that only Nigel Mansell, 1992 Formula One World Champion, could realise in Champ Car. He finished the 2003 season fourth in the overall standings, clinching the title of Rookie of the Year, with three races won. Then his reign began. He won the title the three following years, winning 20 more races. It is useless to say that he suceeded. But the story is still unfinished, and the doors of the F1 seemed to be half-open. In November, Sebastien was offered a new test in Formula One, with a growing team. The owners of this team have been really impressed by him during these tests, and F1 specialists say that he is on the top of the list of the possible drivers of the team for the 2008 season. Indeed, Sebastien is contractually linked to Paul Newman and Carl Haas in Champ Car for 2007.

During his prolific career in American motorsports, and thanks to his talent, his courage, and his ability to make the right choices, Sebatien entered in the Champ Car World Series Hall Of Fame, and I hope he will be able to suceed in F1 to be the next French F1 successful driver.