Bourdais in F1 but also at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Sébastien Bourdais will not be bored in 2009 as he will combine his Formula 1 campaign with the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

The French sports daily L’Equipe stated that the 29-year-old driver, who was confirmed for this season at Toro Rosso last Friday, will participate in the famous automotive event in mid-June with Peugeot.

« I will be with Peugeot and I will officially announce it at a press conference, » confirmed Bourdais. « If I participate, it will be to win. »

The man from Le Mans competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race six times between 1999 and 2007, while also being a full-time Champ Car driver. His best performance was a second place finish.

He also admitted that his 2009 pre-season was among the most difficult of his entire career as Toro Rosso put him in direct competition with Takuma Sato.

« The selection of a driver is primarily based on the number of sponsors. Initially, this number was low, but with reduced costs, the situation has eased. Red Bull will then be able to save 100 million dollars (over 77 million euros). »

« The cards changed hands until the situation stabilized in recent days. So, for me, everything is fine. I tried not to take it personally knowing that the amount of sponsorships was at stake. My manager Nicolas Todt tried everything possible to secure sponsors for me, » he continued.

« There were really tough moments, but at least on a sporting level, I knew that the team wanted to maintain continuity into a second season. »