Bourdais: Fastest Man May Not Win

Last year's series champion dominated the race securing pole, fastest lap and leading 43 laps on his way to victory. However, he does not expect it to be as simple this year for anybody.

Champ Car has scrapped mandatory pitstop windows and forced tyre changes this season, opening up the possibility of differing race strategy again to competitors. 

"There are no rules - you pit whenever you want, you add tyres, you add fuel, whatever you want," Bourdais said. "It's a new game. Obviously it's going to open some doors for some lucky guys.

"Not always the fastest guy is going to get the benefit out of it but that's the way it is.

"Last year we had a lot of things going on during the race and the pit strategy caught us. We thought we were not going to win although we were definitely the fastest around the track.

"It doesn't really matter how you do it, we were the fastest guy out there and we won the race so hopefully I won't be as exhausted as I was last year - I was kind of overheated but it was still a pretty good feeling."