The situation that eventually led to Katherine Legge losing her ride to Sebastian Saavedra at Dragon Racing may be getting uglier due to a dispute between former teammates Sebastien Bourdais and Legge.
A week ago, Legge was abruptly let go when young Columbian Saavedra was hired by Dragon Racing to take the second seat that was available at Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing. The veteran Bourdais had one of the rides and Legge appeared to have another because of the upper hand with sponsorship from TrueCar.
TrueCar is an automotive related internet site designed to match up potential buyers and sellers of cars. They're usually represented by women. However, TrueCar switched and went with Saavedra who also had associate sponsorship from his native Columbia, leaving Legge out of a job (source: Beyond The Flag).
Bourdais adds his opinion
Then the four-time ChampCar champion Bourdais seemed to throw some fuel on the fire when he stated a few days later that the team and marketing partner had “made the tough decision to go a different way.” Bourdais further said that Legge had,
“done what she could and then the performance in Fontana was just weak.”
That in-turn brought an immediate reaction from Legge. She stated that what Bourdais said regarding her performance at the 2012 season-ending race at Fontana was a “complete and utter fabrication.” This remark by Legge certainly contradicts Bourdais’ and Legge can only imagine that her former teammates knowledge of the situation is second-hand by also saying:
“If Sebastien Bourdais actually made this statement, I can only think that someone has fed him this misinformation which he has repeated without checking the facts.”
All of this compounds the fact that Legge is contesting her termination with Dragon Racing and is threatening a lawsuit or some other legal action (source: USA Today). Neither Jay Penske nor anyone else associated with the team officially has replied to requests for comment.
Penske problems
Legge also states her ability to find additional funding for the team was negated by Jay Penske’s awkward situation of being arrested for breaking and entering in Nantucket last summer. Penske was allegedly urinating in a parking lot when two women approached him and Jay in-turn accosted them – he then took off with his brother, breaking into an apartment.
Last year was a tough year all-around for the Dragon Racing group, considering they had to sue Lotus when the car manufacturer couldn't supply engines on time. For the most part, the two drivers had to share a ride for the balance of the year.
Legge states there’s a year left on her agreement with Dragon Racing and that the reason the team has TrueCar is because of her work acquiring them.
Additional source: Associated Press
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