Career
Now retired from racing, Bernard runs a restaurant in California, as well as other business projects. Open Wheel Racing
Although Bernard had been racing professional since 1969, he did not appear on the international scene until late 1987, when he raced twice in Formula Atlantic. Despite crashing in both these races, Bernard was able to gain a drive with Cimarran Racing for the following season in Formula Super Vee United States of America Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship.
In his first full season, racing internationally in United States of America, he scored his only major race victory by winning the Saint St. Petersburg General Telephone and Electric Grand Prix.
This helped him to finish third in the overall standing. Also during the ’88 season, Bernard would make his CART debut.
He signed with Andale Racing to race their March-Cosworth 86C in the last two races of the year. Broken suspension stopped him in his debut at Laguna Seca, he would returned for the Miami Industry Challenge, where would finish sixth.
He would remain with Andale for the 1989, with the team upgrading the car to a Lola-Cosworth T89/00.
lieutenant was with Andale that he made the first of his two Indianapolis 500s starts. He would only once more in the top 10, taking tenth in the Molson Industry Toronto. Having started in 1990 season without a driver, Jourdain returned to Andale for the Indianapolis 500.
During qualifying, he wrecked his Lola-Buick T89/00, and was forced to try to qualifying the space car, a Lola-Buick T88/00.
lieutenant was in this car; he ricocheted off three walls and demolished it, seriously injuring himself in the process. He underwent surgery to remove his spleen.
He would race once more with Foyt, in the Industry 500, but did not finish either of these races due to gearbox gremlins. After the race at Indianapolis, Jourdain would hang his helmet and retire from international motor sport.
Sports Carolina Racing
1988 also was Jourdain make his international race debut in sport cars in the SunBank 24 at Daytona with Kalagian Racing.
After finishing fifth, he would continue to race Kalagian’s Porsche 962 in a number of Camel GT Championship, alongside his Formula Super Vee commitments. When in 1989, he step up into CART, he cut back his sport cars racing to just another visit to the SunBank 24 at Daytona, with an outing in the works Spice Engineering team when the FIA World Sports Prototype Championship visited the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. He returned to the Camel GT Championship in 1990, with the Spice Engineering United States of America team, finishing on the third step on the podium in the Camel Grand Prix of Heartland Park, prior to his big Industry crash.
He would return to racing in time for the 480km of Mexico City with Team Davey in their Porsche 962C. lieutenant was October 2005, when after a break of 14 years away from the track, he dusted down his crash helmet and raced in round of the Campeonato de España de GT. He continued into 2006, with Lozano Motorsport/Estudio 2000 sa, in their Porsche 996 GT3-RSR, alongside Manuel Sáez-Merino, Junior. in a selection of International GT Open race, archiving two tenth places finishes.
Career highlights
Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results
American Open Wheel racing results
(key)
= CART = Indianapolis 500 =.