Dale Coyne team settles into top 10 James Ayello
Something special is brewing at Dale Coyne Racing — whether Sebastien Bourdais wants to acknowledge it or not.
After backing up his worst-tofirst finish in the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., with a second-place turn Sunday in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Bourdais was asked if he considers himself and his No. 18 Honda team a threat to claim the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Bourdais, 38, played coy. “I don’t know that we’re a contender, but we’ll find out,” the four-time Champ Car series champion and points leader said. “We’ll have stayed up there for two races, so that’s not too bad.”
Heading into the April 23 race at Barber (Ala.) Motorsports Park, the Frenchman’s pair of podium finishes have him 19 points ahead of Sunday’s champion, James Hinchcliffe, and 22 ahead of the defending series champion, Simon Pagenaud.
And remember, that’s after rough qualifying efforts. Bourdais failed to complete a lap during qualifying in St. Petersburg and was sent to the back of the pack. On Sunday, he started 12th before surging through the field for his runner-up finish.
His early-season pattern of poor starts with grand finishes leads one to wonder: What will happen when Bourdais starts enjoying better qualifying runs?
We might soon find out. Bourdais is not only historically good at qualifying, he’s also one of the best. With 33 poles in his career, he’s tied for seventh all time with four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti.
And Bourdais isn’t the only one at Dale Coyne making noise.
Ed Jones, the only full-time rookie in the series, has somewhat quietly delivered back-to-back top-10 finishes. After finishing 10th in St. Petersburg, the 2016 Indy Lights champion jumped up to sixth Sunday and sits seventh in the standings. Coyne’s little team that could is one of just two teams sporting two drivers in the top seven (the other is Team Penske with Pagenaud in third, Josef Newgarden in fifth and Helio Castroneves in sixth).
“I’m super happy for the whole team,” Bourdais said Sunday. “Super happy for Ed because he’s a really good kid. There’s nothing I can say that’s negative about him. He’s very open. He’s straightforward, pleasant to work (with). He’s quick, like I said, reliable, doesn’t make mistakes.”
As he did after St. Petersburg, Bourdais credited Coyne’s personal investment into his team this past offseason, including bringing on integral players behind the scenes in engineers Craig Hampson and Olivier Boisson.
“Dale has made a significant contribution to his own progress,” Bourdais said. “He’s stepped up his game. He spent a lot of money. You know, if he can get rewarded for his commitment to the series, it’s awesome.”
Could it be that Coyne’s team is ready to make the leap into the IndyCar elite?
Bourdais is careful not to get ahead of himself, but he knows the possibility is there.
“We’re a smaller group,” Bourdais said. “We’re all trying to build something. Hopefully we can repeat and create some upsets as often as possible.”