LM24: Le Mans “extremely personal” - Bourdais

Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais makes his return to his home race after a four-year hiatus, and he expects it to be an emotional experience. With 10 starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his credit, including three runner-up finishes for the French Peugeot factory team, Bourdais is accustomed to being one of the most celebrated drivers in the event.

Fans from Indianapolis and/or Daytona Beach have few opportunities to cheer for hometown drivers at the Indy 500 or Daytona 500, but at Le Mans, Bourdais – a son of the city that hosts the great endurance race – is regarded as royalty.

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"It's special. It's tough. It's crazy. It's awesome. It's a bit of everything at the same time," Bourdais told RACER. The IndyCar Series driver, who won the opening race at the recent Detroit double-header, is back at Le Mans with the high-profile Ford GT program. Coming from more than a decade of racing in the fan-friendly USA, Bourdais says competing at a heavily restricted event like Le Mans can send the throngs of local supporters into overdrive.

"The people in Europe, in general, not having access to the drivers, when they get close, they kind of lose their 'stuff' a little bit and sometimes it's awkward," he said. "It's not like in the States where they know if they don't get you the first time, they'll get you on the way back. They have access. It's a very different reaction [in Europe] when they get to meet the drivers and interact. Sometimes that's a little difficult, but obviously, the pull I get from all these people in Le Mans is amazing."

Even with those obstacles, Bourdais is moved by the attention he receives and the chance to foster local pride at his birthplace.

"It's a great honor to be able represent La Sarthe and Le Mans in general," he said. "And the track itself, obviously for me, is a place I used to drive on every day to go to school, so it is extremely personal. I already raced there 10 times, finished overall second three times. It's very loaded emotionally as a race track, as an event; it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride emotionally because there's just a bit of everything going on."

Bourdais was born 10 years after Ford's last Le Mans program concluded, but with the well-known history of the Blue Oval's success at the 24 Hour from 1966-1969 in mind, he knows how much entering a victory into the history books would mean to the auto giant.

"If the race picks us, it will be good," he said. "I truly believe that race has a mind of its own and just picks the winner. I've been on the wrong side of the fence a couple of times and know how that works. Hopefully this year it's all smiles for us and a green light."