Bernard Jourdain

Bernard Jourdain (born August 16, 1950 in Brussels) is a Belgian born Mexican racing driver. Jourdain is the uncle of racer Michel Jourdain Jr., and a pivotal figure in Michel Jr.’s progression from novice to Champ Car race winner. Now retired from racing, Bernard runs a restaurant in California, as well as other business projects.[1]

Bernard Jourdain
NationalityMexico Mexican
Born (1950-08-16) 16 August 1950
Brussels, Belgium
Related toMichel Jourdain Jr. (nephew)
Awards
1989
1989
Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
CART Rookie of the year

Racing career

Open Wheel Racing

Although Jourdain had been racing professionally since 1969, he did not appear on the international scene until late 1987, when he raced twice in Formula Atlantic. Despite crashing in both these races, he gained a drive with Cimarran Racing for the following season in Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship. In his first full season, racing internationally in USA, he scored two major race victories by winning the Dallas Grand Prix and St. Petersburg GTE Grand Prix.[2] This helped him to finish third in the overall standing. Also during the ’88 season, Jourdain made his CART debut. He signed with Andale Racing to race their March-Cosworth 86C in the last two races of the year. Broken suspension stopped him in his debut at Laguna Seca, he returned for the Miami Indy Challenge, where finished sixth.[3][4][5][6]

He remained with Andale for the 1989, with the team upgrading the car to a Lola-Cosworth T89/00. It was with Andale that he made the first of his two Indianapolis 500s starts. After finishing nine laps down in ninth place, he was named the Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year along with Scott Pruett. He would only score one more top 10 finish, taking tenth in the Molson Indy Toronto. At the end of the season, he finished 18th in the overall standing, and was awarded the CART Rookie of the Year title.[7][8]

In 1990 Jourdain returned to Andale for the Indianapolis 500. During qualifying, he wrecked his Lola-Buick T89/00, and was forced to try and qualify the spare car, a Lola-Buick T88/00. It was in this car; he ricocheted off three walls and demolished it, seriously injuring himself in the process. He underwent surgery to remove his spleen. He returned to open-wheeled racing the following season, securing a drive with A. J. Foyt Enterprises, and became the first non-US-born driver to race for four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A. J. Foyt, starting in the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix. He raced once more with Foyt, in the Indy 500, but did not finish either of these races due to gearbox gremlins. After the race at Indianapolis, Jourdain retired from international motor sport.[9][10]

Sports Car Racing

1988 also was Jourdain make his international race debut in sport cars in the SunBank 24 at Daytona with Kalagian Racing. After finishing fifth, he would continue to race Kalagian’s Porsche 962 in a number of Camel GT Championship, alongside his Formula Super Vee commitments. When in 1989, he step up into CART, he cut back his sport cars racing to just another visit to the SunBank 24 at Daytona, with an outing in the works Spice Engineering team when the FIA World Sports Prototype Championship visited the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.[11]

He returned to the Camel GT Championship in 1990, with the Spice Engineering USA team, finishing on the third step on the podium in the Camel Grand Prix of Heartland Park, prior to his big Indy crash. He would return to racing in time for the 480km of Mexico City with Team Davey in their Porsche 962C.[12]

It was October 2005, when after a break of 14 years away from the track, he dusted down his crash helmet and raced in round of the Campeonato de España de GT. He continued into 2006, with Lozano Motorsport/Estudio 2000 sa, in their Porsche 996 GT3-RSR, alongside Manuel Sáez-Merino Jr. in a selection of International GT Open race, archiving two tenth places finishes.[13]

Racing record

Career highlights

Season Series Position Team Car
1988 Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship [14][15] 3rd Cimarran Racing Ralt-Volkswagen RT5
Camel GT Championship season [16][17] 25th Kalagian Racing Porsche 962
CART PPG Indy Car World Series[18][19] 26th Andale Racing March-Cosworth 86C
1989 USAC Gold Crown Series [20] 9th Andale Racing Lola-Cosworth T89/00
CART PPG Indy Car World Series [21][22] 18th Andale Racing Lola-Cosworth T89/00
Camel GT Championship season [23][24] 46th Bernard Jourdain Porsche 962
1990 Camel GT Championship season [25][26] 26th Spice Engineering USA Spice-Chevrolet SE90P
1991 USAC Gold Crown Series [27] 18th A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola-Buick T90/00
CART PPG Indy Car World Series [28][29] 42nd A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola-Chevrolet T90/00
Lola-Buick T90/00

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 United States Kalagian Racing United States Jim Rothbarth
Mexico Michel Jourdain Sr.
United States Rob Stevens
Porsche 962 GTP 680 5th 5th
1989 Mexico Bernard Jourdain Mexico Oscar Manautou
Canada Allen Berg
Mexico Andres Contreras
Porsche 962 GTP 485 18th
(DNF)
7th
(DNF)
1990 United Kingdom Panasonic/Carlos & Charlies United States Jeff Kline
Japan Hiro Matsushita
Spice-Chevrolet SE90P GTP 90 47th
(DNF)
13th
(DNF)

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 United States John Kalagian Racing United States Jim Rothbarth Porsche 962 GTP 90 62nd
(DNF)
13th
(DNF)
1990 United Kingdom Spice Engineering GB United States Tom Kendall
United States Albert Naon Jr.
Spice-Chevrolet SE90P GTP 222 18th
(DNF)
8th
(DNF)

American Open Wheel racing results

(key)

Formula Super Vee

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points
1988 Cimarron Racing PHX
Ret
LBH
3
DAL
1
IRP
4
MIL
5
DET
12
NIA
3
CLE
2
MEA
Ret
MDO
5
ROA
3
NAZ
2
STP
1
3rd 152[30]

CART

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
1988 Andale Racing PHX LBH INDY MIL POR CLE TOR MEA MIS POC MDO ROA NAZ LS
20
MIA
6
26th 8 [31]
1989 Andale Racing PHX
19
LBH
13
INDY
9
MIL
12
DET
15
POR
22
CLE
19
MEA
19
TOR
10
MIS
19
POC
11
MDO
27
ROA NAZ
15
LS
23
18th 10 [32]
1990 Andale Racing PHX
LBH
INDY
Inj
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
MEA
TOR
MIS
DEN
VAN
MDO
ROA
NAZ
LS
NC - [33]
1991 A. J. Foyt Enterprises SRF
LBH
20
PHX
INDY
18
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
MEA
TOR
MIS
DEN
VAN
MDO
ROA
NAZ
LS
42nd 0 [34]

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
1989 Lola T89/00 Ford Cosworth DFX 20 9 Andale Racing
1990 Lola T89/00 Buick Injured Andale Racing
1991 Lola T91/00 Buick 21 18 A. J. Foyt Enterprises

References

  1. http://www.oldracingcars.com/drivers/Bernard_Jourdain%5B%5D
  2. Phillips, Dave (December 12, 1988). "All the Answers". On Track Magazine (December): 34–39. ...Bernard Jourdain, who went from a regular top 10 finisher last year to a bona fide contender every time out in 1988. In the midst of an IMSA and GTP program and preparations for his Indy Car debut, Bernard took two brilliant victories, besting Radisich on the phenomenally tight Dallas circuit despite having lost first and second gears, then romping home ahead of Murillo at treacherous St. Petersburg.
  3. "A few laps with. . . Bernard Jourdain | Y-Press". www.ypress.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  4. http://www.champcarstats.com/atlantic/drivers/JourdainBernard.html%5B%5D
  5. "1988 Valvoline Championship for Bosch-Volkswagen Super Vee". Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  6. http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/JourdainBernard.html%5B%5D
  7. "Gainesville Sun - Google News Archive Search".
  8. http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/JourdainBernard.html%5B%5D
  9. "Driver Bernard Jourdain, injured Friday when his car... - tribunedigital-chicagotribune". Archived from the original on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  10. http://www.ulitmateracinghistory.com/racelist2.php?uniqid=16822%5B%5D
  11. http://www.racingsportscars.com/drivers/results/Bernard-Jourdain-MEX.html%5B%5D
  12. http://www.racingsportscars.com/drivers/results/Bernard-Jourdain-MEX.html%5B%5D
  13. http://www.racingsportscars.com/drivers/results/Bernard-Jourdain-MEX.html%5B%5D
  14. "Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship 1988 standings | Driver Database".
  15. "1988 Valvoline Championship for Bosch-Volkswagen Super Vee". Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  16. "IMSA Camel GTP Championship 1988 standings | Driver Database".
  17. http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/imsa/tableimsa.html#1988GTP
  18. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1988 standings | Driver Database".
  19. "Standings".
  20. "Standings".
  21. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1989 standings | Driver Database".
  22. "Standings".
  23. "IMSA Camel GTP Championship 1989 standings | Driver Database".
  24. http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/imsa/tableimsa.html#1989GTP
  25. "IMSA Camel GTP Championship 1990 standings | Driver Database".
  26. http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/imsa/tableimsa.html#1990GTP
  27. "Standings".
  28. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1991 standings | Driver Database".
  29. "Standings".
  30. Phillips, Dave (December 12, 1988). "All the Answers". On Track Magazine (December): 34–39. ...Bernard Jourdain, who went from a regular top 10 finisher last year to a bona fide contender every time out in 1988. In the midst of an IMSA and GTP program and preparations for his Indy Car debut, Bernard took two brilliant victories, besting Radisich on the phenomenally tight Dallas circuit despite having lost first and second gears, then romping home ahead of Murillo at treacherous St. Petersburg.
  31. "Bernard Jourdain – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  32. "Bernard Jourdain – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  33. "Bernard Jourdain – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  34. "Bernard Jourdain – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
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