Originally Posted by
Crash.net
Sebastien Bourdais did little to endear himself to the Mont-Tremblant crowd by complaining openly about the way in which he felt he had been beaten by first time Champ Car winner Robert Doornbos on Sunday.
Despite making what appeared to be a jump start, the Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver took advantage of problems for both front row starters to lead the field until his first pit-stop on lap 21. Although already raining lightly, the pack remained on slicks, with Bourdais joining the list of mistake-makers with an off that dropped him to eleventh. As he was deep in the field, the NHLR team elected to top off his fuel under the extended caution for Paul Tracy's stranded car, and Bourdais used the extra track time that brought to work his way back up the order, eventually falling in behind Doornbos after taking on wets at his final stop.
The battle became one for the lead when pacesetter Simon Pagenaud went wide on lap 53, but Bourdais was unable to pass and eventually took the chequered flag 2.8secs behind his rival.
However, the Frenchman then used the immediate post-race interviews and then the official top three press conference to complain about Doornbos' tactics, which he claimed including the Dutchman persistently blocking his attempts to re-pass the Minardi Team USA car.
"Robert passed me very cleanly on the track, [but] I just left the door open," the three-time champion began, "I was kind of hoping he was going to do the same when, at some point, I was a little quicker behind him. But that's not what he did, [and] that's the only reason I was very unhappy with him.
"But that's the way it is. Apparently his F1 experience is playing a little bit. He's not quite used to the way we should be behaving on the racetrack, when you're not supposed to move - which he done on three occasions. Race control let it slip. That's fine. He had the faster car, [and] he seemed to do a great job. It's just a shame that, as good a driver as he is, he had to do it this way. I think it would have been a much nicer win had he not done it."
Doornbos acknowledges that he has faced similar complaints before, having been black-flagged at Cleveland last time out, but, along with most observers, felt that he had done little wrong on this occasion. Given the opportunity to defend himself in the press conference, the Dutchman pointed to the variety of lines being employed in the wet conditions that 'graced' much of the race.
"I fully think that I deserve this victory, and I'm very happy for this team and for myself," he admitted, "I know that the rules in the US are different, it's a different way of racing. In Europe, we race hard, in Formula One, we race hard. It's a sport.
"At the end of the day, you're fighting. You have to be selfish, you're fighting for your own positions. In the US, I have to respect the new rules, and I paid the price last weekend in Cleveland, where I felt that basically I made a mistake and the race director gave me a penalty, but, in these conditions, you cannot predict what happens. You're driving on slick tyres in the wet, or you're driving on wets on parts of the track which are dry - you're all over the place looking for grip. If Sebastien feels that he could have passed me, he should have done it. I felt I was quicker."
Clearly irritated by the Dutchman's defence, Bourdais retorted immediately.
"I only wish I could have [passed] - had you not thrown me in the grass, maybe it would have been all right," he glared, "It happened once in the pits and two times on track - going into turn eight and, two laps later, going into turn ten, when I was on the 'push to pass', he just ran me in the grass, so I had to back off. I know exactly what happened, he knows exactly what happened.
"Even if race control did not see it, [and] sometimes it happens, it doesn't stop me from saying what I feel. When it's dangerous, like we're in sixth or seventh gear and somebody is trying to run you in the grass, to me that's not very safe.
"I'm not going to make a fuss about it. I'm just being honest, you know. All I can say is apparently being honest is not always serving you right, but that's the way I am. I've always been like that. I'm not going to start lying to you guys because you want me to."
The pair now head for Toronto this weekend tied on points at the head of the championship.
Reply With Quote
