Medical personnel applied cream to Bourdais' swollen hand and the Frenchman had difficulty pulling on his race glove. The Newman-Haas Racing racer pushed aside pain but briefly wondered if "this was what would keep me from winning the race."
It obviously didn't, and the bee story was one of many memories that flooded back to Bourdais at a test session as drivers prepared for the Verizon IndyCar Series return to the permanent road course.
Bourdais pulled off his best lap on the 53rd and final one, beating Englishman Dan Clarke by 9.742 seconds before 33,000 spectators. At the time in 2007, it was the largest margin of victory at the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course since Paul Tracy won by 27 seconds in 1993. Bourdais' fast lap was 1 minute, 44.346 seconds, after clinching the pole position in 1:41.535.
The KOHLER Grand Prix is set for June 26 and the race marks the open-wheel series return to the track in nine years. The Pirelli World Challenge Series is a support event for the weekend at the vaunted course.
Considering the fan support, heritage and atmosphere, Bourdais - a four-time Champ Car Series champion with NHR - had a tough time containing his excitement about coming back.
"Let's face it - it's the best track in the U.S," said Bourdais, who now works with KVSH Racing Technology. "There's nothing that gets close to it. Everybody just talking about COTA (Circuit of the Americas) and everything, but it doesn't compare.
"This is a race track. It's not a big, paved place with run-offs everywhere. Here, you've got to hit your marks, you've got to keep it between the two white lines, and it rewards or it bites."
Bourdais said piloting the Dallara DW-12 Chevrolet, with its current aerodynamic package can't be compared to the Panoz DP01-Cosworth Champ Car he drove to the 2007 win. One thing he did learn at the test session is that the Chevy brakes deeper through the turns.
"We can put a lot more downforce, but here, it's all about efficiency - so, how much downforce you get for how much drag you carry," Bourdais said. "We do get a little slower through the corner, but we can brake so much deeper that it makes up for it quite dramatically."
Bourdais has collected four victories in three seasons with an IndyCar team collaboratively owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan. During the 2016 season, Bourdais has posted five top-10 finishes and one victory, in one of the dual races at Detroit.
Bourdais always had a solid track record at Road America. The open-wheel veteran, who is a native of Le Mans, France, finished second to NHR teammate Bruno Junqueira in his first appearance in 2003. Bourdais strung together third-place efforts in 2004 and 2006, and clinched the win in 2007.
Though he doesn't think the current corps of drivers and cars will be able to surpass Dario Franchitti's track record with a lap of 1:39.866 the Scotsman put down in qualifying for the 2000 race, Bourdais still anticipates exciting lap times - faster than any other series or vehicles that run at the track.
"You've got to remember: the track record was done with 1,000 horsepower, so, we're touching 700 (horsepower)," Bourdais said.
"That's when they could design special parts for low downforce package. Now there are some safety things. That hole in the floor which is a good thing for takeoff, but it is obviously not a really good for aero and drag. There are a lot of compromises that we've had to do in the last few years that I don't think will really allow us to go and do sub-1:40."
He's been an advocate for many years for Road America and was thrilled with the return of the road course to the IndyCar schedule. He called Road America flowy, quick and a place you've got to commit, if you don't want to make a mistake.
Previous experience at Road America could be a determining factor when race weekend rolls around.
"All you've got to do is go out the exit of the Carousel and there's nothing to talk about: it's all out there in front of you," he said. "That's what's so cool about this place. If you make a mistake, you're probably going to hit something. I'm not saying you're going to hurt yourself, but you're probably going to hit something. That's why it's such a challenging and a rewarding place when you get it right."
