TORONTO — Sebastien Bourdais couldn’t help but be skeptical.
After winning pole Saturday, he was angered when he thought the first race of a doubleheader at the Honda Indy Toronto was cancelled by a slippery race track.
The race was merely postponed, and Bourdais returned to his car Sunday waiting for his luck to run out.
It never did.
Bourdais dominated for his first victory since 2007, leading all but seven of the 65-lap race at the 11-turn, 2.81-kilometre track at Exhibition Place.
“I’ve got a big smile across my face and I can’t seem to get rid of it. It’s just really cool,” said Bourdais.
“The whole race I couldn’t stop thinking. I was very stressed out. It felt too easy, it felt like it was too much under control and it felt like it was way going to go wrong at some point. I don’t know, it didn’t. I was surprised about that because that’s what happened all season long so far.”
Bourdais, who also won at Toronto in 2004, finished over three seconds ahead of series leader Helio Castroneves, while Tony Kanaan finished third.
James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., settled for eighth. The result matches Hinchcliffe’s career best at Toronto. Championship contender Will Power moved up from last place to finish ninth.
Bourdais won’t challenge for the IndyCar championship this year, but the victory was a return to form for the 35-year-old Frenchman who dominated the Champ Car series with four titles between 2004 and 2007.
Champ Car and Indy Racing League merged in 2008 to form IndyCar. Bourdais took a hiatus from open-wheel racing until his return in 2011, but he’s yet to find himself in the title race.
He didn’t seem to care after winning his first race since November 2007 in Mexico City.
“To be back on the top step in the way we’ve done it today, pretty much like the good old days. It’s very special,” said Bourdais.
The result is also a key one for Castroneves, who padded his lead atop the points standings as the 39-year-old Brazilian chases his first series title. Castroneves was scheduled to start the afternoon race from pole, just ahead of Power.
Castroneves wasn’t too excited about matching his best result in Toronto. He said his focus on the brief break between races was to get hydrated and refocused.
“Right now it’s tough for everyone,” said Castroneves. “Not only on the drivers, but especially those … who unfortunately crashed and they have to fix their cars. (The postponed race was) the best way to accommodate everything. Hopefully in future we’re able to manage everything a little bit better.
“Now we’ve got to keep focus. It ain’t over.”
Kanaan wasn’t as positive about having to get back into the car.
“It’s not an ideal situation. Obviously we’ve got to do what we got to do because of what happened yesterday,” he said.
“I don’t think people understand how hard it is to drive race cars and to do two races in one day. It’s tough, but it is what it is. We’ve got to do it. That’s why we work out and we get ready for it.”
Bourdais was unaffected when the starting order for the opening race was changed to reflect how cars were lined up in the pits Saturday when the event was postponed.
But Ryan Briscoe, Juan Pablo Montoya and Power, who had qualified second, were the victims of the change as each were dropped to the back of the grid. Briscoe and Power hit the wall Saturday as cars tried to make it work on a wet track behind a pace car. Montoya meanwhile was later moved back after his car had an electrical issue.
When the race began on a mercifully dry track, there was mayhem before drivers completed a lap.
Luca Filippi spun Simon Pagenaud, who’s car blocked the field and brought out another red flag. The collision also ended Takuma Sato’s day. His car had to be towed off the track.
Another 30 minutes passed before the race restarted. When it did, Bourdais opened a gap at the front while Ryan Hunter-Reay made a spectacular pass on Castroneves for second place.
Castroneves regained second with a pass of his own on Lap 33 and Kanaan followed suit to overtake Hunter-Reay.
Hunter-Reay tried a pass five laps later on Kanaan but hit the wall and took damage to his front wing.
Bourdais meanwhile ran over debris from Hunter-Reay’s car, but his luck held out and he suffered no damage en route to taking the checkered flag.
Last year Bourdais finished second and third, respectively, at Toronto. But his weekend was marred by an embarrassing moment when he accidentally dropped his second-place trophy and smashed it.
This year Bourdais held onto his trophy with both hands.
Notes: Both races were changed from 85 laps to 65 laps, or 80 minutes, to fit into the tight Sunday schedule. The afternoon race was scheduled to feature a standing start rather than the often-used rolling start.