2009 will see Christophe Bouchut mainly in action on the American continent. Although he will maintain one foot in Europe thanks to the Le Mans Series, most of his time will be spent in the United States, with a season of motorsport that looks to be both exciting and full of success. After a promising and educational start during the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, he is now ready
to face a year that will mark a turning point in his long and fruitful career.
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series: Round 1 (24th- 25th January), Rolex 24 at Daytona : So close to an exceptional result!
After the excellent preliminary test sessions in early January, Christophe Bouchut was confident as he set off across the Atlantic to take part in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the 1st round of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports car Series, with brand-new team Level 5 Motorsports.
"Although it has been a few years since I last competed in Daytona, I was well prepared for the event, taking part in the preliminary test
sessions both at the end of 2008 and earlier this year. In October, I set a new track record with a DP Daytona Prototype and, in early January, I set the best time on the Sunday, the third best over the three test days. So, with the whole team, bearing the colors of Supercar Life, and with my three team-mates-Scott Tucker, the team boss, Raphael Matos, who races in the IRL, and Ed Zabinski- we hoped that we would manage a good result in the sole 15-minute qualifying session,
equivalent to ten laps of the track, where laps take around 1 minute 40. However, on my third lap, Tracy Krohn made a mistake coming out of a corner, and slightly damaged my rear wing. I came in to change it, but the Stewards did not let me rejoin, worried that I may lose bodywork. I was lying second when the accident happened, but had to be content with 10th by the end of the session, as the other drivers were easily able to improve their times as their tires warmed up, tire-warmers
being banned by the regulations. We could have managed pole position- it'll have to wait for another time."
The next day, Christophe was entrusted with taking the start of the classic American race, and, despite the tire pressures being too high and therefore affecting the road handling, he brought the BMW-Riley up to 6th position before handing the car over to Scott Tucker. Then, after 200 laps of the Daytona circuit, after the sort of double stint for which Bouchut is renowned,
the Supercar Life car took the lead of the race, setting the fastest lap of the race so far.
"At that point, we started to dream. But soon after, in the early hours of the morning, we had a driveshaft failure, and although the team repaired it extremely quickly, we rejoined back in 4th position."
After a long stint of two and a half hours, Christophe opted to hand over the car rather than setting off for yet another hour behind the wheel, as the team had requested. Zabinski, who had not yet driven, took the wheel. Unfortunately, he was caught out on his first lap.
"We had to change a front-right suspension element," Christophe explained. "A podium finish would have been an extraordinary result, but finishing the race is still a fine reward for the team, which was taking part in its first race. We finished in 19th position overall, and 9th in our category, with the added satisfaction of having gained plenty of experience, which will be invaluable as the season continues. Moreover, I would like to emphasize the exceptional work of everyone in the team, as they all did an impressive job, and this bodes well for our future results."
Christophe, Scott Tucker and the Supercar Life BMW-Riley will be back in action on April 24th-25th, at the Virginia International Raceway, for the second round of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
2009 Schedule:Bound for America
"I will be taking part in the full Grand-Am Series," a delighted Christophe confirmed. "Grand- Am is a series where many teams consist of a professional with a gentleman driver, although the word does not have the same meaning as in Europe. They are extremely motivated, they have the time, they are physically well-prepared and very fast: they are really pro drivers, who just lack the motorsport background."
Christophe's role will not just be that of a driver, as, for the first time in his career, he will be coaching his boss from the other side of the pit wall.
"Scott is competing in the Ferrari Challenge North America and I will use my experience to help him. It is something new for me, and I like the idea. My only regret is that I will not be able to take part in the FIA GT Championship this year, or only at a few rounds. But it was a choice I had to make!"
Although Bouchut will not be in action so often in Europe this year, he will compete in the 2009 Le Mans Series, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nürburgring. More information on these events will be released in the coming weeks. And if his timetable was not already busy enough, he will also be in action in Europe with the FIA and in South America with SRO Latin America.
"Having widened my relationship with the FIA and the promoter SRO, I am in charge of checking the balance of performance of the cars entered in both the FIA GT3 European Championship and the Telefonica Speedy GT3 Brasil. This extra task does not lighten my timetable, but makes my season even more interesting. Personally, I am very proud of the confidence that Supercar Life has placed in me, as the Americans can be quite conservative and do not often open their doors to foreign drivers. Moving to the USA is a good way to have a change of scenery after reaching 20 years in Motorsport last year, meaning I can now set off to conquer the New World. My thanks to David Stone and Scott Tucker for this opportunity and the trust they have placed in me".
Christophe will be heading back to the United
States to coach Scott Tucker on February 9th-10th at Miami Homestead, and returning to Road Atlanta on February 24th-25th for the next DP test.
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