Sebastien Bourdais has branded his retirement from the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours a “dagger in the heart”, after the #38 Cadillac was taken out of the race by a power steering failure.
Over the first half of the race, the #38 V-Series.R shared by Bourdais, Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber firmly was one of the main contenders for victory alongside the sister #12 car, the #8 Toyota and the #20 BMW.
However, shortly after 4am, Bourdais encountered a power steering failure that proved terminal as it couldn’t be fixed swiftly – though the French veteran had already lost substantial time nursing the car back to the pits.
“The power steering failed at pit end, so I was already through,” he explained. “So I was going to have to do the lap back to the pits, bleeding lap time and trying not to crash because the steering wheel is just a rod. It’s quite spicy to turn. And this race, if you make it in the garage and you don’t get out of the garage within a minute, it’s game over.”
#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken
Photo by: Alessio Morgese / NurPhoto via Getty Images
This race marked Bourdais’ 19th appearance at the French classic at his home Circuit de la Sarthe, but overall victory has always eluded him, despite a GTE Pro win in 2016.
Asked if there were any positives to take away, the 47-year-old replied: “Other than the retirement and that insignificant failure that unfortunately is the dagger in the heart, there’s only positives.
“We obviously had an amazing car, it was fighting at the front the entire time. My team-mates did an amazing job, the team in general executed exactly the way we had to and we gave ourselves a chance, and that’s all you can ask for at Le Mans.
“This race has got its ways to humble everything and everyone. For maybe a two-dollar piece, it just came to a crushing end.
“When the gods of racing decide that it’s not your day, it’s just not your day. We didn’t stuff the car in the fence or anything like that. It’s just a stupid failure that ruins everybody’s efforts. It is what it is.”
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