Claude Bourbonnais (born June 24, 1965), is a former driver in the Toyota Atlantic, Indy Lights, and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1994 CART series with 5 starts. He also raced in the 1997 Indianapolis 500, which by then had become part of the Indy Racing League, completing 9 laps and finishing in 30th position. He was the Toyota Atlantic teammate of fellow French-Canadian and future Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve in 1993 and in fact finished ahead of Villeneuve in series points. He has been working for major car manufacturer in USA doing demonstration drives and was also a driver coach in the American Ferrari Challenge. Career Early career Bourbonnais first appeared on the national Canadian racing circuits in 1983. The Canadian was introduced to racing by his father, who raced snowmobiles. Bourbonnais raced in the Formula 125 superkart series. Scoring several podium finishes the Kali kart driver finished fifth in the Quebec championship standings. The Quebec native dominated the following season winning all but two races. Most notably Bourbonnais won the Formula 125 race supporting the 1984 Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Following superkarts, Bourbonnais raced in the national Formula Ford 2000 series in Canada. In his debut season Bourbonnais best result was a second place at Circuit Trois-Rivières, behind Dutchman Cor Euser. The Canadian driver finished one point shy of the top ten in the drivers championship. In 1986 Bourbonnais improved one championship position after exchanging his Reynard 83SF for a more recent Swift DB3. The Quebecois driver also competed in the inaugural season of the Rothmans Porsche Challenge Series in 1986. His best result was a sixth place at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. After switching from the Swift DB3 into a Reynard 87SF, Bourbonnais started winning races in the 1987 Canadian Formula Ford 2000 series. The Canadian won at Mont-Tremblant improving to third in the championship standings. Retaining the 87SF for 1988 and 1989 Bourbonnais became a double champion. In 1988 Bourbonnais won six out of eight races. The following season Bourbonnais scored six race wins out of nine races. The Canadian defeated many up and coming talents such as Jimmy Vasser and Ken Murillo For 1988 the Canadian also appeared in the U.S. based, SCCA sanctioned, Formula Continental class. The Canadian qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs winning the race. Bourbonnais was the first to do so in a Formula