Bourdais to undergo surgery after crash during Indy 500 qualifying

Sport360 staff 10:25 21/05/2017
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  • Surgery for Bourdais.

    French driver Sebastien Bourdais will undergo surgery on a fractured pelvis and hip after his high-speed crash during the first day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

    Bourdais, who drives for Dale Coyne Racing, crashed on the third of his four laps of qualification as, travelling at over 230mph, he lost control on a bend, flipping his car over and setting it on fire.

    The former Formula One driver remained awake and alert and did not lose consciousness as he was rushed to hospital, where his injuries were later diagnosed.

    A statement from the IndyCar Series said: “Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sebastien Bourdais was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip following an incident today while attempting to qualify for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

    “According to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr Geoffrey Billows, Bourdais will undergo surgery on his pelvis this evening at IU Health Methodist Hospital.”

    Team owner Dale Coyne added: “Sebastien is in good hands here at IU Methodist Hospital with the staff and now we just wait for him to recover.”

    Away from the drama of Bourdais’ crash, which came after a lengthy rain delay, Formula One’s Fernando Alonso made it into the Fast Nine.

    The McLaren driver, who will not drive in next week’s Monaco Grand Prix in order to compete in the famous American race, finished seventh with a four-lap average of 230.034mph.

    Being among the fastest nine means the Spaniard, in the Honda 29, will compete for pole position on Sunday.

    “They were intense laps,” he said on the race’s official Twitter site. “With the weather we only had one attempt so this creates stress. We put four laps together that were enough to get into the Fast Nine.

    “There has been a lot of people supporting me. That makes me very proud and happy.”

    Ed Carpenter was the fastest driver of the day, with a 230.468mph average, ahead of Takuma Sato.
    Briton Max Chilton is in 12th position, averaging 229.636mph while countrywoman Pippa Mann finished in last position with 219.282mph.

    The racers outside the top nine who are not competing for pole will race again on Sunday to try and improve their starting position.

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