It was a tale of two seasons for KV Racing Technology in 2014. While Sébastien Bourdais had a respectable season and finished in the top ten in the championship for the first time since his 2007 championship, Sebastián Saavedra had a typical Sebastián Saavedra season with plenty of retirements putting him solidly in the basement. Bourdais returns but Saavedra will not as the team has drafted in a man from a principality.
2014 KV Racing Technology Review:
Wins: 1 (Toronto 1).
Poles: 3 (IMS Road Course, Toronto 1, Mid-Ohio).
Final Championship Position: 10th (Sébastien Bourdais), 21st (Sebastián Saavedra).
2015 Drivers:
Sébastien Bourdais
The four-time champion Sébastien Bourdais had his best season since returning to full-time IndyCar competition but still left a lot of room to improve on the table. While winning in dominating fashion at Toronto, he had another great run at Mid-Ohio only to have Scott Dixon's amazing fuel conservation run keep him from victory. The Frenchman also had good races at Indianapolis and Houston. Bourdais did have a few slumps over the course of the season. Outside of the Indianapolis 500, Bourdais' best oval finish was 12th at Milwaukee.
Numbers to Remember: 54.54. Bourdais has won 54.54% of the races he has started on pole position (18 out of 33).
8. Bourdais is 8th all-time in IndyCar victories, second amongst active drivers behind just Scott Dixon. With 32 victories, Bourdais trails Al Unser, Jr. for 7th all-time and is three back of Dixon and Bobby Unser for fifth all-time.
12. Bourdais is 12 starts away from passing George Snider for 50th all-time in IndyCar starts.
Predictions/Goals: We know Bourdais is fast enough to win races but to get himself back into championship contention he is going to have to be more consistently in the top five. A few races he found himself in the tires or just wasn't a factor and sat solidly in the middle of the pack. He has done well at Indianapolis but needs to improve on the other five ovals. Another finish in the top ten in the championship is absolutely possible with a chance at the top five if he is consistently finishing in the top ten this season.
Stefano Coletti
Hailing from Monaco, Stefano Coletti has been the third rookie confirmed to run majority of the season. The Monegasque driver raced in GP2 the last four seasons. He ran in Formula Three Euro Series, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 previously in his career. In 86 GP2 starts, Coletti won seven races, had 15 podiums, one pole and 11 fastest laps and finished fifth and sixth the last two years in the championship.
Numbers to Remember: 30,984. Amount of days between IndyCar races that featured a Monegasque driver. Louis Chiron ran the 1929 Indianapolis 500, his only IndyCar start. Chiron started 14th, finished 7th and completed all 200 laps.
15. Coletti is set to become the 15th different driver to make a start in both IndyCar and GP2. This does not include Scott Speed, who failed to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500, the only time he has attempted an IndyCar race.
3. The fourteen previous drivers to have made starts both IndyCar and GP2 have combined to win three races, all at the hands of Mike Conway.
Predictions/Goals: Let's start with the bad news with the Coletti hire and it has nothing to do with him as a driver: You know the ABC broadcasters are going to shove down our throats the fact that Coletti is from Monaco the same way they shove Charlie Kimball's diabetes and Hélio Castroneves' Dancing with the Stars title down our throats. They hear one thing about a driver and then running six feet deep into the ground. I am sure there is more to him than his nationality. Maybe they should take their time to talk to him and learn about whom he is and what he is thinking as a driver.
On track I think Coletti will be the surprise of the season. I will put him as the favorite for Rookie of the Year as currently he and Gabby Chaves are the only two confirmed for the full-season (Luca Filippi will run 10 races and Sage Karam is only confirmed for St. Petersburg but his program might be expanded to more races). He has never run an oval but he will learn to love ovals. Expect a few top fives and top tens and Coletti can easily crack the top fifteen of the championship.
The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons gets underway on Sunday March 29th. ABC's coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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