Tough Day at Road America for Dale Coyne Racing’s Bourdais and Ferrucci

The REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America was a tough event for ENEOS-sponsored Dale Coyne Racing. Sebastien Bourdais in the #18 Team Sealmaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan entry salvaged a 12th place finish after early contact in the race, while Santino Ferrucci placed 19th in his #19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Dale Coyne Racing entry.

 

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS

Having qualified seventh on the scenic 4.048-mile, 14-turn course at Road America, Bourdais got a good start to the race. Shortly after the green flag dropped, Takuma Sato made contact with Bourdais, who struggled from that point on, but continued to fight. Despite some damage, Bourdais finished the 55-lap race to score valuable championship points.

“We had a pretty good start. Then I was side-by-side with Takuma, and coming off turn three, maybe he got his wheels in the curb or something. He wiggled and his car turned hard right, then his side pod made contact with my left front. After that the wheel was off and the car felt weird. I don’t know if our race was dictated by that initial contact or by something else, but it was a very average day, starting seventh and finishing 12th.”

Bourdais earned 18 points at Road America and is now 11th in the championship standings with 208 points. In seven races at Road America, Bourdais has finished on the podium four times including a win from the pole in 2007. The 2019 REV Group Grand Prix at Road America was Bourdais’ 198th NTT IndyCar Series start and seventh at Road America.

 

SANTINO FERRUCCI

IndyCar rookie sensation Santino Ferrucci, driver of the #19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda Dale Coyne Racing entry, also experienced his share of bad luck at Road America.

His engineering team elected to go with a different strategy for the 55-lap event that brought him back to pit lane at the end of Lap 5. This strategy looked strong early on, allowing Ferrucci to move as high as eighth during his second stint. But the wrong tire pressure resulted in lost time during the third stint sending him back into the field, resulting in a 19th place finish.

“We have a good race car, and had a unique strategy going for us, which could have paid off. Unfortunately, we lost some time because of the tire pressure during the second stint. Luck wasn’t on our side; we just have to look forward to the next one.”

 

NEXT RACE

The Dale Coyne Racing team heads north of the border for Round 11 of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series, taking place Sunday, July 14, 2019 at Honda Indy Toronto, a 1.786-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in Toronto, Canada.