DETROIT – Sebastien Bourdais raced to his first IndyCar victory of the season Sunday, outlasting Takuma Sato in a caution-filled ending at Belle Isle.
Bourdais held on in his No. 11 Chevrolet in a race that was shortened from 70 laps to 68 because of a two-hour time limit. The first caution didn't come until lap 37, but there were eight caution periods in all — as well as a red flag with 5:33 remaining on the clock.
Bourdais led coming out of the final caution and had little trouble staying in front. The French driver's final lap of 1 minute, 17.9133 seconds was the fastest for anyone on the day.
Graham Rahal finished third. Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya was awarded the pole based on entry points when qualifying Sunday morning was halted by bad weather. Montoya finished 10th.
Carlos Munoz, who won Saturday's rain-shortened race, finished last Sunday.
Bourdais had enough fuel to finish strong after the string of cautions during the second half of the race. The red flag came after Penske teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves crashed. The field came back under a yellow flag, which turned green with about 3:20 left.
Bourdais led Sato by 0.6 seconds after lap 66. By the end, his margin had almost tripled.
It was the 33rd IndyCar win of his career.
