GRAND-AM Road Racing

Bouchut Looks Back on Dream Season

Oct. 28, 2009

VOIRON, France - Christophe Bouchut was dreaming of giving Supercar Life Racing its first victory at the 2009 season-ending Grand Prix of Miami, and he came very close to achieving his goal.

Looking back, the Frenchman felt his year has been extremely enriching, with the pleasure of having helped to make this young team the equal of names such as Ganassi and Penske in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The Supercar Life team was particularly well prepared for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Opting to enter a second car, and recruiting young IRL driver Hunter-Reay, the team was sending
the message that it wanted to finish the season with a well-deserved first victory.

"Everything started well as I was able to set the fastest time in both of the official free practice sessions on
Thursday and Friday," Bouchut noted. "We were competitive, very competitive, and the team was full
of hope."

For the usual strategic reasons, Scott Tucker qualified the car and then started the race. The team boss showed once again that he was the fastest of the 'non-pro' drivers, and placed the Riley-BMW on the seventh row of the grid.

"After less than 30 minutes of racing, there was a first Safety-Car period, which allowed us to refuel at the
perfect time," Bouchut continued. "I replaced Scott behind the wheel, and I started to push hard. Quite quickly, I was able to overtake the cars ahead of me, to finally take the lead, a real delight!"

One after the other, the cars from the powerful Ganassi, Penske, Brumos, SunTrust and Gainsco teams gave way under pressure from the Frenchman.

"As we had set up a race strategy which suited the events perfectly, we were heading for a sure win," Bouchut said. "During my last pit stop, I had a comfortable lead, and we could slide towards the checkered flag. Unfortunately, when I came in to refuel, there was a communication problem."

The pits let Christophe go just as a Porsche GT was coming in. It hit the rear of the Prototype, without damaging either car.

"I rejoined the race without losing any time, but the extremely severe GRAND-AM stewards decided to give me a penalty, in the form of a pit-stop, which destroyed our race and all our hopes," commented Bouchut, who rejoined the race with his knife between his teeth.

"I was on the attack, and I managed to get back up with the leaders. Everything was still possible at that point. That was when an accident neutralized the race again. Unfortunately, we finished the race and took the checkered flag behind the safety car! I only needed three laps to get back in the lead; it's frustrating, but it is what it is. I was hoping and dreaming of giving Supercar Life its first win this season."

Bouchut continued, "This season, we have celebrated worse results than this one like victories, but not this time! Everyone knew we had come so close to something momentous. It is always easy in hindsight, but this win was ours. From free practice onwards, we were the fastest on the track, with the best set-up, the best race strategy. By the end of the race, I was between one and three seconds faster than the cars ahead of me! Without that last Safety Car, victory would have been ours," he said.

"To celebrate my first meeting with Scott Tucker, one year ago at Salt Lake City, I would really have liked to be able to give him the victory," Bouchut continued. "At that time, everything was still to be done, and, a year later, Supercar Life is up among the favorites of a very competitive campionship. It is now an important team, with plenty of projects, and I am personally very proud to have been able to help their development with my experience and my advice.

"For me, this season in America has been extremely enriching; it came at just the right time in my career as
a driver," he concluded. "I was tired of racing in France, in series that were not always up to international
standards. Of course, I am sorry that I was unable to compete in the FIA GT Championship, but it was
impossible to combine the two championships."

Christophe's 15 trips across the Atlantic have also allowed him to get to know more about a country he
particularly enjoys: the United States of America. Look out - his conquest of the west is only just getting
underway.