Later that evening, the four-time series champion learned he was likely going to be fired from his job with
Now Bourdais, tied for sixth on the all-time wins list with 37 career victories, finds himself sidelined along with
Both drivers are longtime fixtures in open-wheel racing and opened 2020 with zero IndyCar prospects.
“James Hinchcliffe and
The abrupt sacking of Bourdais and Hinchcliffe has made for an off-season of distasteful business decisions that has contributed to a rapidly changing landscape in a series trying to make a comeback. Hinchcliffe was replaced at McLaren by 20-year-old
“It's very European motorsports, which I hate,” said former Indy 500 winner
This has been a particularly cruel off-season for some of IndyCar's biggest names, who are scrambling for seats that just don't exist.
Being fired is bad enough, but the timing has made it a double punch for the drivers.
“I think drivers to a certain extent, we understand we are expendable. There's a lot of us lined up and if you are not getting the results or getting your job done, there is a line out the door of guys who will come in and try to replace you,” said Hunter-Reay. "But that's not the issue. I think it's when it comes down to it, there needs to be some type of business sense with integrity involved and you actually notify someone ahead of time and give them a chance to go out and find another ride.
“When it really burns us is when it happens so late like that, the music has already stopped, there's no more chairs and you are left standing there.”
Bourdais had already been in talks with JDC Miller in sports cars to run the three IMSA endurance races, and when he lost his job with Coyne, he called team leader
“I picked up the phone and said ‘Hey dude, not looking for three races anymore,' ” Bourdais told AP.
So the Frenchman is at
Both Bourdais and Hinchcliffe have said little about their firings, with Bourdais on Saturday citing confidentially clauses in his split with Coyne for how little he could reveal.
Bitter at how the situation played out, he insisted he's not looking back and focused only on trying to fill his calendar with more races in 2020. He's got a shot at landing a ride for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where's he a previous class winner, and wants to get back into IndyCar.
But he's a salaried driver who does not bring sponsorship and isn't interested in finding funding to join a smaller team just for the sake of getting back into the series. Bourdais only wishes his parting had come earlier when he might have been able to land an open seat.
“I think every contract is different so you can't generalize things and I can't say that Dale didn't have an out,” Bourdais told AP. “It's just the timing of things that was really complicated for me, it's just the harshness of the business and financials got in the way. We're not in a teddy bear kind of world ... people do things for a reason and some are on the receiving end of bad things and you try to take the feelings out of it.
“It's not the way you want to go, you'd like to go on your own terms and sometimes racing decides that for you.”
The late seat changes took five-time series champion
“The guys you thought were (in good shape) turned out not to be and the timing definitely sucks,” Dixon said. “Bourdais really seemed like he was blown out of the water. It's definitely an interesting time for what we thought was going to be a quiet off-season and now it's pretty messed up.”
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