Bourdais: Le Mans DNF “A Dagger in the Heart”

Sebastien Bourdais called his retirement from his 24 Hours of Le Mans victory fight as like “a dagger in the heart” as he again missed out on the chance of taking a first overall win at his home event.

Jack Aitken propelled the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R into the lead in the sixth hour and Bourdais had just pitted at the mid-point of the race when the car suffered a power-steering failure.

He had to limp the car around the circuit back to the pits where repairs were attempted and it briefly returned to the track before subsequently retiring.

Bourdais, who finished runner-up at Circuit de la Sarthe three times with Peugeot between 2007 and 2011, was left mourning the “stupid failure” that cost a strong result.

“We obviously had an amazing car, it was fighting at the front the entire time,” he said.

“My teammates did an amazing job, the team in general executed exactly the way we had to and we gave ourselves a chance and that’s all you can ask for at Le Mans.

“In 2020 I had pretty much given up ever getting this chance ever again and this year it was there.

“This race has got its ways to humble everything and everyone. For maybe a two-dollar piece, it came to a crushing end.

“It’s a big blow. I’m 47 years old, I’m not going to get many of those opportunities but it’s racing.

“Some races just decide to turn their back on some guys and smile on the others and it is what it is.

“You win much fewer than you lose in your racing career and that doesn’t make you a better or worse driver it’s just part of the journey and sometimes it’s incredibly cruel.

“I did my part, I had a solid stint in the car and so did everybody else. When the gods of racing decide it’s not your day, it’s not your day.

“We didn’t stuff the car in the fence or anything like that, it’s just a stupid failure that ruins everybody’s efforts.”

As soon as Bourdais experienced the failure, he knew the car’s race was over.

“On top of it, the power steering failed at pit in so I was already through so I was going to have to do the lap back to the pits bleeding lap time and trying not to crash because the steering wheel was just a rod,” he explained. “It was quite spicy to turn.”

Despite the disappointment of missing out on another possible victory, Bourdais still said it had been a positive event for the American manufacturer as the sister No. 12 JOTA-run car was also in the fight throughout.

The crew qualified 1-2 last year but was unable to maintain that performance during the race, while Cadillac’s updated car for this year — which was designed with Le Mans glory in mind — was consistently able to run at the front.

“For us it’s a validation of all the efforts that have been made and all the developments and directions that were taken with the Evo kit,” added Bourdais.

“It seemed like we took a bigger step than most and that’s amazing because, when you redesign an Evo like that, you hope it’s going to be good enough and you hope you do everything right, but you’re never sure of the result.

“It’s testament to the development group and the entire technical group because they did get it right.”