INDIANAPOLIS — Sebastian Bourdais, a four-time champion of the defunct Champ Car tour, will not return to Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan next season.
The news was first reported by Racer.com’s Marshall Pruett.
Bourdais, from Le Mans, France, first joined Coyne following his stint in Formula One. He entered nine races in 2012 driving for Coyne before departing the team to drive for Dragon Racing and KVSH Racing from 2013 to ’16.
He then returned to the team for the 2017 season and has been with the team since.
“I want to thank Sebastien for having the confidence to come back from his Formula 1 tour and join our team in 2011, and again for his commitment to the team during the past three years,” said team owner Dale Coyne. “It is not a decision we take lightly, but due to the ever-changing landscape of Indy car racing, we have no choice but to make a change for 2020. We wish Sebastien all the best with his future racing endeavors.”
Bourdais competed under the Dale Coyne Racing banner in 2011 and 2017 and Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan for the 2018 and 2019 NTT IndyCar Series seasons. Bourdais earned back-to-back victories in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.) in 2017-’18 while driving for Coyne.
“I want to thank Dale, Jimmy and Sulli for giving me this opportunity to continue racing in the NTT IndyCar Series over the past few years,” remarked Bourdais, “I look forward to pursuing new opportunities in racing in the years ahead.”
Vasser-Sullivan Racing co-owners Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan thanked Bourdais for his time with the team in a joint statement.
“We both want to thank Sebastien for the outstanding job he did driving for our teams KVSH Racing and Dale Coyne Racing Vasser-Sullivan,” the duo said in the statement. “Looking back Seb has driven 84 races for us. In that time, we captured poles and won a lot of races. Sebastien is a great friend, a great driver, a true champion and a fantastic ambassador for our partners and Indy car racing. We wish him the best of luck in the next phase of his career where we hope there will be an opportunity for us to race together again.”
Bourdais is one of several marquee names on the NTT IndyCar Series free agent market. He joins James Hinchcliffe and Spencer Pigot as drivers in search of opportunities ahead of the 2020 season.
Update: