Claude Bourbonnais | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | Canadian | ||||||
Born | L'Île-Perrot, Quebec | June 24, 1965||||||
IndyCar Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 52nd (1996–97) | ||||||
First race | 1997 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| |||||||
Champ Car career | |||||||
5 races run over 1 year | |||||||
Years active | 1994 | ||||||
Team(s) | ProFormance Motorsports McCormack Motorsports | ||||||
Best finish | 50th (1994) | ||||||
First race | 1994 Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach) | ||||||
Last race | 1994 Texaco-Havoline 200 (Elkhart Lake) | ||||||
|
Claude Bourbonnais (born June 24, 1965), is a former driver in the Toyota Atlantic, Indy Lights, and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1994 CART series with 5 starts. He also raced in the 1997 Indianapolis 500, which by then had become part of the Indy Racing League, completing 9 laps and finishing in 30th position.
He was the Toyota Atlantic teammate of fellow French-Canadian and future Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve in 1993 and in fact finished ahead of Villeneuve in series points.
He has been working for major car manufacturer in USA doing demonstration drives and was also a driver coach in the American Ferrari Challenge.
Bourbonnais first appeared on the national Canadian racing circuits in 1983. The Canadian was introduced to racing by his father, who raced snowmobiles. [1] Bourbonnais raced in the Formula 125 superkart series. Scoring several podium finishes the Kali kart driver finished fifth in the Quebec championship standings. [2] The Quebec native dominated the following season winning all but two races. Most notably Bourbonnais won the Formula 125 race supporting the 1984 Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. [3]
Following superkarts, Bourbonnais raced in the national Formula Ford 2000 series in Canada. In his debut season Bourbonnais best result was a second place at Circuit Trois-Rivières, behind Dutchman Cor Euser. The Canadian driver finished one point shy of the top ten in the drivers championship. [4] In 1986 Bourbonnais improved one championship position after exchanging his Reynard 83SF for a more recent Swift DB3. [5] The Quebecois driver also competed in the inaugural season of the Rothmans Porsche Challenge Series in 1986. His best result was a sixth place at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. [6] After switching from the Swift DB3 into a Reynard 87SF, Bourbonnais started winning races in the 1987 Canadian Formula Ford 2000 series. The Canadian won at Mont-Tremblant improving to third in the championship standings. [7] Retaining the 87SF for 1988 and 1989 Bourbonnais became a double champion. In 1988 Bourbonnais won six out of eight races. [8] The following season Bourbonnais scored six race wins out of nine races. The Canadian defeated many up and coming talents such as Jimmy Vasser and Ken Murillo [9] For 1988 the Canadian also appeared in the U.S. based, SCCA sanctioned, Formula Continental class. The Canadian qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs winning the race. Bourbonnais was the first to do so in a Formula Ford 2000 chassis, as previous editions of the Formula Continental race were won by Formula Super Vee chassis. Bourbonnais won the race from pole position, also setting the fastest race lap. Curtis Farley finished second, more than nine seconds behind Bourbonnais. [10]
After his 1988 success, Bourbonnais stepped up to the highly popular Formula Atlantic series. Racing in the Atlantic division, opposed to the Pacific debut, Bourbonnais impressed at his debut. In his first Atlantic race, at Lime Rock Park, Bourbonnais won from pole position. The driver, racing a Swift DB4, finished third in the final standings. [11] Improving the following year Bourbonnais won two races. He was the fastest driver at Heartland Park Topeka and again at Lime Rock Park. As Brian Till won three races, Bourbonnais finished second in the championship standings. [12]
Bourbonnais also tried his luck racing in Europe. The Canadian attempted to race in the final two rounds of the 1990 International Formula 3000 Championship. At the Bugatti Circuit 34 drivers tried to qualify for the 25 racing spots. Bourbonnais set the 29th fastest time, therefore he did not qualify for the race. [13] A second attempt came at Circuit Paul Armagnac. Again Bourbonnais failed to qualify. Both times Bourbonnais drove Pacific Racing entered Lola T90/50 cars powered by Mugen Honda engines. [14]
For 1991 Bourbonnais signed with Courage Competition to race in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship. The team ran a Cougar C26S which contested the C2 class, for cars built according to 1991 Group C regulations. At the 1991 430 km of Monza the Canadian made his debut alongside Michel Trollé. The duo finished tenth overall. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans the team was joined by Marco Brand. The team retired after 293 laps.
In 1992 Bourbonnais had his racing season split between the U.S. and Great Britain. In the Atlantic Championship Bourbonnais raced at the Canadian rounds of the now unified championship. The Canadian finished thirteenth at Montreal and seventh at Trois-Rivieres. [15] The fast racer also ran a partial British Formula 3000 in 1992. After a third place at Donington Park Bourbonnais was forced out of the series due to a lack of sponsors. [16]
Having secured enough funding, provided by Player's cigarettes, Bourbonnais returned to the Atlantic Championship in 1993. The Forsythe/Green Racing entered driver won seven races. In the end Bourbonnais was beaten to the championship by only four points to fellow Canadian David Empringham.
Bourbonnais first races in a major championship were in the 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, sanctioned by CART. The Canadian made his debut in the third round of the championship, the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The racer was entered by the short lived ProFormance Motorsports which existed only throughout 1993 and 1994 entering, Scott Pruett, John Paul, Jr. and Bourbonnais. [17] His debut was short cut by a broken exhaust in his Chevrolet powered Lola T93/00 after 24 laps. [18]
Later in the season Bourbonnais returned with McCormack Motorsports. The driver suffered a single car crash at Toronto. Technical difficulties prevented finishes for Bourbonnais at Mid-Ohio, Vancouver and Road America.
Bourbonnais ran a partial season in Indy Lights with Forsythe Racing in 1995. After some mediocre results the Canadian scored a second place at New Hampshire International Speedway in a Buick powered Lola T93/20. The Canadian ran a full season with the American racing team in Indy Lights the following year. His racing season started with disappointed. A practice crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway left Bourbonnais with a concussion. Therefore he missed the opening race of the season. [19] Bourbonnais returned at Long Beach placing seventh. The following round, at Nazareth Speedway the Canadian scored his first pole position in the series. However, mechanical issues prevented a strong finish. The second half of the 1996 Indy Lights season Bourbonnais was very strong. The Quebec racer scored a number of podium finishes. He even won the Indy Lights race at Vancouver. The racing driver finished fourth in the drivers championship.
Bourbonnais ran a partial season in 1997 with Eclipse Racing not scoring notable results. [20]
Throughout his racing career, Bourbonnais made attempts at the Indy 500. His first start was the 1997 Indy 500. The legendary race was run over three days due to rain delays. After a practice crash the Blueprint Racing team had to work hard to get Bourbonnais in the race. In a last chance qualifying session the Canadian qualified his car in 32nd place. [21]
Bourbonnais, along with Paul Durant, Robby Gordon, Sam Schmidt and Jim Guthrie, were granted extra practice laps. Due to engine troubles in earlier sessions the drivers made extra system checks. [22] Engine troubles haunted Bourbonnais during the race. The Canadian survived a chaotic race start which took out five drivers before the start of the race. However, starting lap eight, the Oldsmobile Aurora V8 in Bourbonnais' Dallara IR7 blew. As he stopped down the backstretch his stop caused a yellow flag. [23]
In 1998 Bourbonnais made a second attempt at the Indy 500 with BLueprint Racing. Struggling for speed the Canadian had to qualify on Bump day in order to make the race. Bourbonnais (and also Lyn St. James and Dan Drinan) failed to beat Johnny Unser's time to make the race. [24]
Besides single-seaters, Bourbonnais has raced in sportscars and GT's. In 1998 the Canadian joined Mike Davies and Bill Dollahite to race a Ferrari 333 SP in the 6 hours of Watkins Glen. The mainly amateur based team finished on an impressive tenth place overall, eighth in class. [25] For 2000 Bourbonnais joined Philip Creighton Motorsports at the Grand-Am race at Trois-Rivieres. Together with teammate Scott Schubot the team finished fourth overall in a Lola B2K/10.
In 2003 Bourbonnais returned for a one-off in the Trans-Am Series. Bourbonnais replaced Paul Gentilozzi at Rocketsports Racing for the race at Trois-Rivieres. [26] The Canadian rookie qualified his Jaguar XKR in third place, finishing the race in fifth. [27]
In 2018 he began a career in politics by being a candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec during the 2018 Quebec general election in Vaudreuil (provincial electoral district) where he finished 2nd.
Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Road Atlanta | Reynard 87SF | Ford | Formula Continental | 1 | 1 | Running |
(key)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Pacific Racing | DON | SIL | PAU | JER | MNZ | PER | HOC | BRH | BIR | BUG DNQ | NOG DNQ | NC | 0 |
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Courage Compétition | Marco Brand Michel Trollé | Cougar C26S-Porsche | C2 | 293 | NC | NC |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | High Bridge Racing | LBH | PHX | LIM | MON 18 | WGL | IOW | 52nd | 1 | |||||||||
Champ Rcg | TOR 25 | TRR 17 | VAN 26 | MDO | NAZ | LS1 | LS2 | |||||||||||
1992 | Comprep | MIA | PHX | LBH | LIM | MON 4 | WGL | TOR | 25th | 20 | ||||||||
Genoa Racing | TRR 8 | VAN | MDO | MOS | NAZ | LS1 | LS2 | |||||||||||
1993 | Forsythe/Green Racing | PHX 4 | LBH 1 | ATL 16 | MIL 1 | MON 18 | MOS 1 | HAL DNS | TOR 1 | LOU 1 | TRR 13 | VAN 1 | MDO 2 | NAZ 1 | LS1 2 | LS2 19 | 2nd | 191 |
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | ProFormance Motorsports | Lola T93/00 | Ilmor 265C | SRF | PHX | LBH 26 | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | 50th | 0 | ||||||||
McCormack Motorsports | TOR 24 | MIS | MDO 24 | NHM | VAN 21 | ROA 30 | NZR | LS |
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Forsythe Racing | MIA 7 | PHX 22 | LBH 15 | NAZ DNS | MIL | DET | POR | TOR | CLE | NHA 2 | VAN 19 | LS 7 | 13th | 29 | |
1996 | Forsythe Racing | MIA DNQ | LBH 7 | NAZ 16 | MIS 18 | MIL 8 | DET 3 | POR 4 | CLE 2 | TOR 2 | TRO 20 | VAN 1 | LS 3 | 4th | 104 | |
1997 | Eclipse Racing | MIA | LBH | NAZ | SAV | STL | MIL | DET | POR | TOR 19 | TRO 18 | VAN 28 | LS 18 | FON | 33rd | 0 |
Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996–97 | Blueprint Racing | Dallara | 72 | Oldsmobile | NHM | LVS | WDW | PHX | INDY 30 | TXS | PPIR | CLT | NH2 | LV2 | 52nd | 5 | |
1998 | 27 | WDW | PHX | INDY DNQ | TXS | NHM | DOV | CLT | PPIR | ATL | TX2 | LVS | NC | 0 |
Arie Luijendijk, nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2014.
Robert Woodward Rahal is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 and 2020 Indy 500s as a team owner for Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, 64-kilometre (40 mi) east of Toronto. The facility features a 3.957 km (2.459 mi), 10-turn road course; a 2.9 km (1.8 mi) advance driver and race driver training facility with a 0.402 km (0.250 mi) skid pad and a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) kart track. The name "Mosport", a portmanteau of Motor Sport, came from the enterprise formed to build the track.
Michael Mario Andretti is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fourth-most all time. Since his retirement from active racing, Andretti has owned Andretti Autosport, which has won four IndyCar Series championships and five Indianapolis 500 races.
Circuit Mont-Tremblant is a 4.26 km (2.65 mi) race circuit located approximately 130 km (80 mi) north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the second-oldest existing race track in Canada, and was originally known as Circuit Mont-Tremblant-St-Jovite until it was renamed in the 1970s. Set in the shadow of the Mont-Tremblant ski hill, the twisting fifteen-corner track uses the natural topography and elevation of the land.
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics, or just Atlantics or Formula Atlantic, although the latter two terms risk confusion with the Sports Car Club of America's amateur Formula Atlantics division.
Alex Barron is an American former race car driver. He began racing CART FedEx World Series Championship cars in 1998 and made his first Indy Racing League Northern Lights Series start in 2001.
Patrick Carpentier is a retired Canadian professional auto racing driver. In the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series, he achieved five wins and 24 podiums, as well as two third place championship finishes in 2002 and 2004. The long-time Champ Car driver switched to the IndyCar Series in 2005, and moved on to Grand Am Road Racing in 2007. After a few NASCAR races in 2007, he moved full-time into the series in 2008. Since 2009, he has only had part-time drives, so became a contractor and renovator in Montreal, trading in real estate in Las Vegas, as well as being a color commentator for television coverage of various racing series. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 32 Ford Fusion for Go FAS Racing. Carpentier is now the president of a home construction firm in Quebec.
Esteban Guerrieri is an Argentine racing driver currently competing in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship for Vanwall Racing Team. He was runner-up in Indy Lights in 2011 and 2012, and in the WTCR series, he was the most successful driver in terms of race wins and was overall runner-up in 2019.
Westwood Motorsport Park was a 1.800 mi (2.897 km) 8-turn motorsport race track located in Coquitlam, British Columbia on the southern slopes of Eagle Mountain.
The Circuit Trois-Rivières is a street circuit in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The circuit has been the home of the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the longest-running street race in North America, since 1967. The circuit is located on the Terrain de l'Exposition (fairgrounds) and is unusual in that it passes through Porte Duplessis, the narrow concrete gateway of the grounds at turn 3.
Russell James Spence is an English racing driver. He now runs a construction business in London. In 2011, Spence was jailed for 13 weeks for his part in a fraud scam involving a chain of car washes.
The Moosehead Grand Prix was an annual auto race held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The race took place on a 1.15 mile street circuit next to Citadel Hill from 1990 until 1993. The race moved to a 1.45 mile circuit on the runways of Canadian Forces Base Shearwater for 1994 and 1995.
Bruno Bianchi is a Canadian former racing driver. Bianchi won races in Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000. After his racing career Bianchi was an engineer at Bombardier Inc. and Bell Helicopter.
Ryan Norman is an American racing driver. Norman is a former motocross rider and is currently competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport and won the 2020 IMSA TCR Championship for the team. He formerly drove for Andretti Autosport in Indy Lights with multiple wins and podiums, and ran a race in the IndyCar Series in 2021 with Dale Coyne Racing.
Luo Yufeng is a Chinese-American racing driver. He is the 2015 Formula Continental champion and 2018 F4 Chinese Championship vice-champion.
Curtis Farley is a former racing driver and SCCA National Championship Runoffs winner.
Ken Duclos is a Americas former racing driver. Duclos competed in the Trans-Am Series, Atlantic Championship among other series.
Ernest Sikes is a former American racing driver. Sikes won the 1993 SCCA American Continental Championship, a precursor of the USF2000 series. Sikes also competed in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.
Stuart Crow is an American former racing driver. Crow won the 1990 United States Formula Super Vee Championship and the 2000 United States Formula 3 Championship.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)