On the back of clinching a record-breaking fourth successive Champ Car World Series crown at Surfers Paradise, Sébastien Bourdais cast his thoughts towards the future of the championship he has dominated since the beginning of 2004, and gave some predictions on who might step into his victorious boots.
The Newmaan/Haas star has triumphed in 26 of the 66 races he has contested – an unrivalled statistic in Champ Car history – and he was quick to thank the team for its invaluable contribution to that success story. He also played down his own role, insisting there would be another driver to come along, fill the breach and maintain that winning form.
“Nobody is really irreplaceable,” he asserted. “Obviously a driver is one part of that success and Carl (Haas) always seems to be able to find the right guy for the job, but it doesn't necessarily need to be Sébastien Bourdais. It's been other people before, and obviously great names like Michael (Andretti), Mario (Andretti), Nigel (Mansell) and Cristiano (da Matta). I'm sure they'll find someone else that can get it done just as well, build a new group and start a new adventure.”
As to who that ‘someone else' may be, Bourdais was keen to praise his young 2007 team-mate Graham Rahal, who has shown considerable promise over the course of his fledgling Champ Car career, currently sitting fifth in the drivers' standings with four podium finishes to his name in his debut campaign.
“I've seen a young man obviously who's got a very big talent,” the Frenchman stressed, “and who has grown up extremely fast. In that field you've got to, otherwise you don't last very long, and he's very mature. In the meantime he's also shown that, if he doesn't always start super-fast off the bat, he can learn very quickly. Very often in the Saturday morning practice session he was getting very close, and sometimes just as fast as we were.
