Fansided

5 IndyCar drivers to watch in 2017

By Brittany Frederick

Team Penske's Josef Newgarden observes the IndyCar team test at Sebring International Raceway. Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Courtesy of IndyCar
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden observes the IndyCar team test at Sebring International Raceway. Photo Credit: Chris Owens/Courtesy of IndyCar /
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IndyCar drivers to watch
Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series. /

Sebastien Bourdais

Team: Dale Coyne Racing
2016 Finish: 14th
2016 Wins: 1 (Detroit 1)

Everyone knew that Josef Newgarden was leaving for Team Penske but many people didn’t have a clue that Sebastien Bourdais would be exiting KV Racing Technology after the 2016 season. That included the team principals at KV themselves, although that wound up being for the best as they folded operations earlier this year.

The financial issues of KV sent Bourdais back to Dale Coyne Racing, where the four-time Champ Car titleholder raced for one season in 2011. That was a decent season for the Frenchman: he had no wins or podium finishes but he did notch five Top 10 finishes over the nine races in which he competed. There’s definitely potential in the Bourdais-Coyne reunion. The reason why he’s one of our IndyCar drivers to watch is we don’t know just how much.

Could the shift to DCR be what makes Bourdais competitive again? IndyCar fans can all agree that he’s a better driver than the last two years have shown. In his career, he’s never placed higher than 10th in the championship hunt since the reunification and he’s only won more than one race during the 2016 season. It’s clear that he needs something to help push him to the next level, and maybe a change of scenery will be that something.

How Sebastien Bourdais does is also important to the future of IndyCar as a whole. Dale Coyne Racing hasn’t come close to contending recently, aside from some laps led by rookie Conor Daly, who’s moved on to A.J. Foyt Enterprises. If Bourdais can pull together even one win, he could help DCR take some necessary steps forward, and that in turn is good news for IndyCar. The more small teams that can mix it up with Penske, Ganassi and Andretti the better, even if they don’t win. Hiring Bourdais could launch DCR into the mix.