Sebastien Bourdais, who won the London Champ Car Trophy at Brands Hatch on
Monday, is looking forward to the challenge of making his oval race debut at the
Lausitzring in Germany this weekend.
The Frenchman has made an instant impression in the Champ Car World Series since
he joined the Newman/Haas squad at the start of the year, and has claimed two
poles and one win in the four events held so far. But Bourdais has yet to race
on an oval, which provides a vastly different set of challenges to a racing
driver.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge of racing on an oval," said
Bourdais. "I tested for two days in Phoenix and it was quite an eye-opening
experience. I watched the oval races on TV but I didn't fully appreciate the
skill needed until I did it for myself.
"Before I thought 'Wow, how hard can it be?' But it is a real test of
ability and it's definitely mentally challenging. You don't know where the limit
of the car or yourself is but you don't want to have a big moment. It requires
110 percent concentration 110 percent of the time. I'm looking forward to this
new challenge."
Bourdais had encountered numerous problems in his first three races before
finally claiming victory at Brands, but the driver reckoned this made the win
even sweeter. "It was great to win a race after a few lost opportunities to
do it sooner," he said.
"The feeling was unbelievable. Everyone on the team was really happy about
this accomplishment. It was good to get that behind us and earn some points in
the championship and move up to sixth place
Antoine L'Estage and his codriver Alan Ockwell of the Yokohama Canada Rally Team won the 2014 edition of the Rallye Defi by winning every stage of the rally.