Bourdais disappointed to miss podium

Whether at home in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his two daughters or in his profession, rarely does the four-time CART champion have extended time to kick back.

Take his IZOD IndyCar Series month break – June oval races at Texas, Milwaukee and Iowa during which Katherine Legge drove the TrueCar car for Dragon Racing. Following the June 3 race at Belle Isle, Bourdais competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series' Six Hours of the Glen (third place).

Returning for the Honda Indy Toronto, Bourdais qualified a season-high fourth and was in line for a podium finish until sliding into the Turn 1 tire barrier because of slight contact with the car driven by Charlie Kimball on a restart with three laps left. His seventh race of the season didn't end as he would have liked, but it showed progress for the team.

"That would have been great for the whole Dragon Racing crew. But we'll try again," said Bourdais, who will drive in the next four races in addition to testing a Grand-Am car July 9 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bourdais' season didn't kick off the way he'd like, with the team having an underpowered engine until switching to Chevrolet for the Indianapolis 500 in late May and no testing since he shared a Dallara chassis with Legge at Sebring International Raceway in early March.

"It's interesting sometimes to put yourself in positions where you're really kind of struggling," Bourdais said. "As long as you can see some light at the end of the tunnel. We should have been on the podium today. It was not right the way I was punted off."

Bourdais will test the Dragon Racing car July 12 at Sonoma Raceway and is scheduled to spend a day at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 26 in advance of the Honda Indy 200 on Aug. 5.