Sebastien Bourdais has the back of his wife, Claire Ragot, to tackle every obstacle- be it racing fails or recovery from a life-threatening accident.
An attitude to never give up & a standout racing ability has pocketed him 37 professional wins & made him one of the most successful American open-wheel car racing drivers.
The French-born got a passion for speed & flyby from his father, Patrick, a retired racing driver.
But also his wife Claire, who’s been with him since the late 90s, gets a significant share of credits for his successful career.
The 1999 French Formula Three champion started his racing career in kart races & then saw a rise to Junior formulae, Formula 3000 & DTM.
Following the footsteps of Juan Pablo Montoya & Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien joined the Champ Car series in 2003 & won four consecutive Champ Car World Series titles (from 2004 to 2007).
Throughout his career, Bourdais raced in IndyCar Series, Le Mans Series, Formula One, & IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Currently, he is a Cadillac factory driver, having worked as a Ford Performance factory driver from 2016 to 2019.
Sebastien Bourdais Wife Claire Ragot & Two Kids
Bourdais is married to the beautiful Clair Ragot. Clair, who was born on May 8, 1981, is a French track-and-field standout.
They met in 1999 in their hometown Le Mans, but it was until 2003 the two would officially begin dating. After three years of relationship, Sebastien and Claire tied the knot in May 2006.
The couple is blessed with two lovely children. Their firstborn is daughter Emma Camille, born on December 2, 2006, a few months after their marriage.
Their youngest child, son Alex, was born in 2009.
Bourdais loves both of his children immensely and is very supportive of their life choices.
When speaking of his daughter, he says that she is very supportive of everything but not particularly interested in anything.
Bourdais says of his daughter Emma that she loves to dance & all she could talk about is dancing. Her dance hours per week even exceed 28 hours.
Alex, on the other hand, is a bit of touch and go on everything. He loves to play soccer and also Ninja Warrior stuff.
His son is a bit all over the place when it comes to hobbies. Bourdais says that he seems to have an interest in go-karts, but whenever he goes around the tracks, he just goofs around.
Bourdais Faced A Life-Threatening Accident
On May 20, 2017, there was a normal qualification race for the Indianapolis 500. What happened there left the entire racing community and the rest of the world stunned.
Bourdais was pushing his lap time in order to get an edge over the competition. Bourdais pushed his car to its limits, reaching 231 mph on two laps.
He mentions that he remembered the car wriggling a little as he approached Turn 1. Then, Bourdais crashed into the barriers at Turn 2 seconds later.
The injuries from that accident haunt him like an indelible tattoo. He broke his hip and pelvis.
There’s no getting around the fact that it could have been fatal. However, Bourdais is a race car driver.
So he manages his fear and utilizes what he learned from his nearly fatal mistake. He even finds ways to make jokes about the accident if presented with the opportunity.
