With all the leaders carefully watching fuel consumption numbers and laps counting down quickly, IndyCar officials red-flagged the race, bringing all cars on pit road with five laps remaining in the 70-lap event. A racing incident left the track littered with debris and the race organizer wanted to finish the race under green-flag conditions.
By the time everything was cleaned up and cars rolled on to the track, IndyCar officials announced the second race of the Dual in Detroit doubleheader would no longer be a 70-lap race, but instead a timed event capped at two hours. That announcement came as music to Bourdais, who had not won an IndyCar race in almost a year.
“Had it not been a timed race, we would have not made it,” said Bourdais.
All Bourdais had to do was hold off Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal for approximately three minutes.
“It was just about as nerve-racking as it gets,” he said. “We made it stick all the way to the end.”
Sato was happy with second place and being on the podium for the first time since 2013. He said “we needed a little bit more” to win the race, but felt his pit crew did a “fantastic job” and it was a ‘great day” for the team.
“It was a long race, but it was a fantastic show,” Sato said. “It was difficult to overtake today with the greasy conditions. Every restart was very exciting, especially the last few.”
Sato did, however, question Bourdais’ maneuvering on the final restart of the race.
“I think Sebastien’s restart was, to be honest, a bit tricky,” said Sato. “He decelerates, so we all had to brake, which is not really what we talked about at the briefing.”
Bourdais defended his actions as part of racing.
“I kind of dragged my feet a little bit on the last caution lap. I wasn’t going to give it up,” he said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of talk on what happened at these restarts — guys pulling out of the lane way before the green flag, which you’re not supposed to do.”
Rahal ended the race in third place, a positive finish despite being disappointed with IndyCar officials after he was ordered to drop behind Sato due to blocking.
“I dont think it was deserved, based on what the rules are,” he said. “You’re allowed to move before the person behind you does.”
Juan Pablo Montoya continues to lead the Verizon IndyCar Series driver standings. The gap back to second place Will Power is 21 points, with Scott Dixon 42 points further back in third place overall.
The Firestone 600, at Texas Motor Speedway, is the next event on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. The 600-kilometer race runs under the lights at the Fort Worth track on June 6, 2015.
