Bourdais won a shortened run at 68 laps because of a two-hour time limit. While the first yellow light did not shine until lap 37, ultimately there were eight cautions, then a red flag with 5:33 left on the clock.
Sebastien Bourdais in a Chevy held off Honda-powered Takuma Sato during the final three laps of Race 2 of the so-called Chevrolet Dual in Detroit to collect his 33rd Indy car victory. He was followed by 11 Honda-powered race cars after the fuel-starved Chevrolet of Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, the MotorCity pole sitter, dropped out.
Montoya, who led a field-high 35 laps, slipped to 10th on the final lap as the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet ran dry on a wet track, ironically. He maintained the championship points lead (315-294 over Will Power) at the halfway point of the IndyCar season.
“We had a really good Verizon Chevy today. It was really good in the rain as we jumped out to a big lead. It looked to be a nice day for the team,” Montoya said. “We gained points on Will with a 10th-place finish so it’s not a terrible day.”
As was the case yesterday, tire selection – wets versus run-in or sticker versions of slicks – made for significant racing. (A Wild, Wet Duel in Detroit Sees Honda Edge Chevy)
The winning run was made possible – but by no means assured – when a red flag halted the race on Lap 65 of the scheduled 70-lap contest as an IRL safety crew cleaned debris from a crash between Team Penske teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves. (Roger is probably steaming) They collided in Turn 2 of the difficult 14-turn, 2.35-mile street circuit on a restart, a costly and puzzling mistake for Penske racing.
IndyCar officials then called for a timed race, and Bourdais — whose No. 11 Team Mistic E-Cigs KVSH Racing Chevrolet was also low on fuel — had 2 minutes, 50 seconds left to defend first place.
The four-time Champ car champion, who started ninth on driver points after a downpour cancelled the late-morning qualification session, finished 1.7644 seconds ahead of Sato in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda after 68 laps were completed. Running on E85, Bourdais’ IndyCar posted the fastest lap of the race as the checkered flag was waving in a cold, wet Detroit.
Bourdais is the seventh different winner in eight IndyCar races this season.
