INDYCAR: Coyne builds engineering superteam

Craig Hampson, who won four Champ Car titles with Bourdais at Newman/Haas Racing and spent his most recent years with Andretti Autosport, and Olivier Boisson (pictured), who engineered Bourdais to four wins at KVSH Racing, have joined Dale Coyne Racing and will partner with engineer and DCR veteran Michael Cannon to provide the Illinois-based team with an exceptional brain trust heading into 2017.

"It's exactly what it looks like from the outside," Cannon told RACER. "Dale's commitment to surrounding Sebastien with talent is seen in all the people he's brought together, and with all the people who were already here for the entire operation."

With Boisson preparing to join the team, and the DCR crew traveling to test with Bourdais at the Gateway oval, the full and revised engineering structure within the Honda-powered program will be in place before long.

"I'm going to race engineer Sebastien, Michael is going to engineer the other car, and Olivier is going to support the engineering program," Hampson told RACER. "[Olivier] has immense expertise in computer modeling, shaker rigs, and dampers, and with dampers being an open development item and that being a big part of your performance, we're going to turn him loose there."

Outside of a brief stint working together at Dragon Racing, the 2017 season will mark the first time Bourdais and Hampson have been paired since claiming four consecutive Champ Car titles from 2004-07.

"We're 10 years older from when we worked last time, and we've stayed in contact the whole time. Sebastien and I are both pretty intense, so I'd bet we'll be screaming at each other sometimes," he said with a laugh.

Cannon (pictured, with Conor Daly) has worked with Hampson and Boisson at previous teams, which should make for a short familiarization period at DCR.

"I worked with Craig at Andretti and I'm delighted to have his company, and I worked with Olivier at KV, and he's very bright and capable," Cannon said. "The entire team is very fortunate to have them on board."

"Mike and I have been friends for a long time," Hampson added. "In 2006, he and AJ Allmendinger pressed Sebastien and I hard for the championship, and then we worked together at Andretti in 2013. We see the work from a similar angle, and since he's been at Coyne for three years, he knows all the engineering tools and processes and he knows how it all operates. I'm excited to resume the working relationship."

Hampson also gave thanks to Michael Andretti for creating a situation where he could work in IndyCar after the Newman/Haas team folded.

"Four years ago Michael gave me an opportunity to work remotely so I was able to not move and I really appreciated it," he said. "It was tough decision leaving there. Since April of 2015, I had been assigned to help wind tunnel testing with the HPD aero program. I enjoyed that, but it meant I wasn't helping the Andretti team in the way I would have wanted. It was hard watching their struggles this year, and it was that feeling – the thought that I'd like to be able to help and influence more – that made me decide to accept a traveling race engineer job again."

Hampson (pictured, with Justin Wilson) has also found himself amid a mini-Newman/Haas reunion at DCR.

"It starts with Sebastien, obviously, but I'm excited my crew chief is going to be Todd Phillips, who was my crew chief at Newman/Haas, and there are more of us from the old team," he said. "It's a small group, but it's very close-knit and a lot of skill. There's a lot of ability here and this is like coming home. Maybe we can scare the big teams from time to time ..."

Coyne continues to evaluate drivers to fill the second seat alongside Bourdais. The return of Conor Daly, who impressed with Cannon in 2016, is in question, and Coyne is known to have spoken with a mix of free agents and new talent interested in joining IndyCar. Although DCR's full program has yet to be solidified, Cannon is pleased to see his team owner in a position of strength with the onboarding of Hampson, Boisson and Bourdais.

"I'm really happy for Dale," he said. "He has put his heart and soul into his race team, and for him to have the opportunity to have a driver of Sebastien's caliber, and everyone that has recently joined the program, it means a lot. And I'm sure Sebastien's teammate for the year will be equally as capable. It's great to see Dale be able to compete for wins, and he's done an excellent job of weathering the storm and positioning himself to prosper next year."

The final engineering change at DCR involves Kyle Brannan, who joined the team in 2016 to engineer its second car. Brannan made quite an impact with RC Enerson at the wheel, and has returned to sports cars where he'll engineer one of the Tequila Patron ESM Ligier-Nissan DPis next year.