Bourdais Hopes This Is the Year to Win His Hometown Race
Photo: Cadillac Racing
By Dennis Krause
It’s considered one of the three biggest races in the world. Some will argue the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest.
In addition to Le Mans, Sebastien Bourdais has also raced in the other two, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1. According to Bourdais, a Le Mans native, the one thing all three races have in common is history.
“All of the massive racing events like Le Mans, Monaco, Indy, and to some degree Daytona, Sebring and Nürburgring, have history; that's the biggest thing,” said Bourdais. “A history of the greatest drivers, teams and cars and that's what builds legacies and legends. Then it gets to a completely different level of magnitude and engagement so when you’re part of these events, it's not like anything else. Everybody wants to win because you want to be part of that history of the sport that you love so much. There’s a very big pride if you manage to join those legends.”
Bourdais has indeed stood on the top step of the podium at Le Mans after winning the 2016 LMGTE Pro class with Ford and Chip Ganassi Racing. But, it’s the overall win that Bourdais is still chasing.
“For me, Le Mans represents more than any other because I grew up there and raced there many times. I’ve come quite close a few times and it’s one of those races that is extremely difficult to win and, maybe this is the year!”
Photo: Cadillac Racing
Again this year, Bourdais will be part of the two-car Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R entry that locked out the front row in qualifying for last year’s endurance classic.
Along with co-drivers Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, Bourdais recently tested the No. 38 Caddy at the high-speed Silverstone Circuit in England in preparation for the 94th edition of the 24 hour race June 13-14 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
For 2026, the aero configuration has been upgraded to improve competitiveness in race traffic. The most visually apparent is the rear wing height being much lower than the 2025 Cadillac V-Series.R. Also new for this year is a brake package that aligns suppliers and technology to the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing road car.
“The big one is coming, so there is lots of preparation from the entire team and JOTA and Cadillac,” remarked Bourdais. “It’s been a colossal effort to get everything ready, and it was good to have that test session in Silverstone. We keep learning every time we are on track about the new aero kit to try to optimize our performance with the car.
“Hats off to everybody; they’ve done really, really well. Now it’s time to see what we really have going toward Le Mans. I think we’re all excited but at the same time a little bit apprehensive because obviously when you put in so much effort with so many people, you really hope that the work gets rewarded. But quite excited and looking forward to the big one of the year.”
Photo: Cadillac Racing
While there is a huge preparation for Le Mans, Bourdais insists it’s not that much more than any other World Endurance Championship (WEC) event.
“Whether it’s Le Mans or another WEC race, the prep is the same, it's just preparing for a 24 hour race is always a little bit more, particularly for the team because you need more spares and a few more people as it’s a long week. For the drivers it’s not an easy one, but it’s much harder for the technical team.
“For my own physical preparation, you carry on through the entire year, you can’t push at the last minute for Le Mans. That race is more about fatigue management more than the physicality itself. If it gets really hot that's more demanding on the body, so hydration through the week is always critical but I don’t really do anything different.”
Now age 47, Bourdais basically grew up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“My first was when I was maybe five or something like that,” Bourdais recalled ahead of his 19th try at Le Mans. “We always used to go at least to night practice or something to watch the cars. We used to live very close to the Mulsanne corner and Indianapolis (corner complex) and it was always quite interesting to watch from the outside of the track. You had the big braking zones and the brake discs glowing and I remember that well.
“I was watching this not with the eye of an insider because my dad had not done Le Mans yet at that point, but I pretty much grew up on race tracks and, although the cars were different, it was a familiar environment to me so I was watching it with the eyes of a kid that grew up on the race track.”
Bourdais’ parents attend a lot of his WEC races and will surely be watching again this weekend not far from the family home.
“I’m an only child so we've always been quite close, and racing is definitely something we share. I don’t necessarily always have the time to spend with them during the race weekends but I always enjoy having them around and to share that passion that has always kind of put us together.
“You lose more than you win in racing, even if you have an amazing career, but we've had a lot of very good memories to celebrate and share and that's always you know made us a pretty close group.”
Photo: LAT Photographic
Although an overall win in his hometown race to join the legends of Le Mans would surely rank at the top of his many career achievements, Bourdais sites his time in the CART Champ Car Series as his most satisfying.
“It has to be Champ Cars and winning the four championships (2004-’07) in a row. I think it was 31 wins and poles in 73 races. The whole experience, the gelling with the team (Newman Haas Racing) and how much of a family it was and what a group effort it was to sustain that level of domination and how in control in that particular car I was from pretty much the first time I got in it. It was just a perfect formula for my driving style and that will definitely remain the greatest time of my career.
“I’m quite proud of quite a few things that I've done since, but it will definitely remain the one thing in my career that properly stands out.”
That could change if Bourdais stands atop the podium as the overall winner of his hometown race.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.