Sebastien Bourdais's Best Win of the Year?

[Snrub]

As the title says, which victory was Bourdais' best?

[luke]

I voted Denver because Sebastien did what was just encredible.
Comming from the back and winning on at tight street circuit that is difficult to pass on.

I would have voted Mexico city because he only had to finish 11th but he won, and he dominated the race, but he spun out so I choose Denver.

[Flatspot]

I have to agree it was Denver. Passing the entire field is good for him, good for his team, good for the fans. Just plain good. I think he also scored maximum points on the weekend in Denver.

[enemy-ace]

Easy choice. Denver. One of the single best racing performances i have seen. Just ate the field alive. Even made PT succumb.

[racinthestreets]

Denver. I do not think that any of the others were a thrilling.

[esorniloc]

Well at Mexico he even had time for a quick spin. Wasn't there one year when Danny Sullivan had a spin and still won at Indy?

[macdaddy]

I'm sure that there have been numerous occasions when the winner has spun, but the odds are quite abit lower on a superspeedway!

[racefanatic]

Denver without a doubt.
That was such an amazing comeback! I think that was really a defining race in his ChampCar career. It's one thing to lead the whole race from the pole - it's another to have to work your way back to the front after being spun out by your team-mate.

[racefanatic]

Originally posted by esorniloc
Wasn't there one year when Danny Sullivan had a spin and still won at Indy?

Yes, but I think Alex Barron's spin and win at Michigan in 2003 was even more impressive.
I felt like I was the only fan in the stands not cheering for Sam Hornish.

[jjspierx]

darnit. I voted for Mexico City completely forgetting about Denver, which is what I would have voted for...what a minute, I'm a moderator, I guess I will just change my vote.

[macdaddy]

What did you vote, Snrub?
You started the thread, afterall!

[KRONOSJL]

of course DENVER , very exciting race
For MEXICO i think he took too many risks , in the last laps.

[Snrub]

I was going to wait a bit so as not to influence the outcome , but since you asked, I voted for Mexico. Let me explain (this is going to make it sound like I had an agenda for the thread, but I don't):
I didn't see the Denver race until ~3 weeks after it happened. You guys went on and on about what a fantastic job he did there. When I saw the tape, I was felt let down. It was a good performance, but it was hardly one of those classic charge to the front races we use to see '96-01. Mexico was a straight fight with no complications between two of the very best drivers out there. Bourdais simply obliterated Junqiera, it wasn't even close. IMO Junquiera looked pathetic in the wake of Bourdais. Perhaps Junky was intentionally trying to double Bourdais' fuel milage and hope for a yellow, but that seems somewhat unlikely given that he was the one who had to obliterate his teammate. The spin spoiled it a bit, but he was running qualifying laps through the whole race, so perhaps he can be excused.

Bourdais' other wins that have been dominating performances consisted of him getting a margin and backing his pace off. With the championship on the line most drivers would have played safe. 99% of drivers wouldn't have pushed when they had the win in the bag. IMO what Bourdais showed yesterday was that he is a racer's racer. The kind of guy who will risk it all because he won't settle for anything but pure mastery.

Conspiracy theory: I think seeing PT drive may have rubbed off on him a bit. I recall Bourdais sincerely saying a couple times that he thought the way PT raced was a good stratagy and it worked well for PT. Bourdais' Mexico wasn't the pure psycho-drama of Vancouver, but it was certainly a kind of nuts.