Sebastien Bourdais qualifies 13th at St. Pete

Bourdais with a time of 62.5445 seconds (103.606 mph) is making his debut with KVSH Racing.

KVSH Racing driver Sebastien Bourdais qualified 13th for tomorrow’s 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Qualifying, which was delayed by almost three and a half hours due to tornado warnings and heavy rain, was run on an extremely wet track making the already challenging 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit even more so.

Sébastien Bourdais, KV Racing Technology Chevrolet

Photo by: Martin W. Spetz

Bourdais, who pilots the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut - KVSH Racing Chevrolet/Dallara/Firestone machine, went out in group one in round one of qualifying. He posted a time of 75.8337 seconds (85.450 mph) placing him seventh in his group of 11 drivers and therefore did not advance to round two.

“It wasn’t much of a qualifying session for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing team,” Bourdais said. “Because of the track conditions we waited to go out to make sure that we had room in case something happened, so everyone else got in a lap before the first red flag. When we went back out I got one lap at speed before the second red flag. We were too conservative and I feel bad for the crew. They did a good job preparing the car. We will just have to go to work and do the best we can in tomorrow’s race.”

Bourdais, who was fourth on the speed charts after the morning practice, which was run on a dry track, with a time of 62.5445 seconds (103.606 mph), is making his debut with KVSH Racing. He will be competing at St. Petersburg, where he resides with his wife Claire and their two children, for the fifth time, although did not start the race in 2011. In three previous races (2003, 2012 and 2013) he has a pole, which he earned in his first U. S. based open-wheel event in 2003 and a best finish of 11th, which he earned last year.

Bourdais, 35, who was born in Le Mans France, is the only driver to win four consecutive championships taking the series title in 2004 through 2007. He is tied for second in all-time championships with Mario Andretti and Dario Franchitti, has won 31 races placing him eighth on the all-time list and is seventh on the all-time list with 31 poles. He competed in 27 Formula One races for Scuderia Toro Rosso (2008 – 2009) and has an impressive endurance racing record including a victory at the 2014 Rolex 24-Hour and a third at the 2014 12-Hour event at Sebring.

KVSH RACING