INDIANAPOLIS -- Sebastien Bourdais suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip during a crash on the third lap of his qualification run for the Indianapolis 500 Saturday afternoon.
Bourdais was taken by ambulance to IU Health.
According to IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, Bourdais underwent successful surgery Saturday night.
"Surgery went well," said INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows. "I've met with Sebastien this morning and he was doing even better than I expected."
Bourdais released a brief statement Sunday afternoon thanking everyone for their support.
"I want to thank everybody for the support and messages, quite a few drivers have already dropped by. It's going to take time, but I'm feeling pretty good since the surgery. I'll be back at some point. Just don't know when yet!"
The Dale Coyne Racing driver had just completed two laps at over 231 miles per hour - the fastest of the day - when he made hard contact the Turn 2 SAFER barrier.
Bourdais placed 9th during the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 last year.
Dale Coyne Racing announced Sunday that James Davison would be replacing Bourdais in the No. 18 car for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.
Davison, a 30-year-old Australian, has competed in two previous Indy 500s in 2014 and 2015 but has not competed in an IndyCar race since his 2015 Indy 500 run.
“My thoughts are with Sebastien and (wife) Claire Bourdais,” said Davison. “This is never the circumstance that a driver wants to secure an opportunity to drive in the Indianapolis 500. With that said, I’m extremely excited and ready to take on this challenge. The prime goal will be to secure a strong result for the team, Sebastien and all our sponsors. I can’t wait to get started.”
REPLAY: @BourdaisOnTrack makes heavy contact with the turn 2 wall. #INDYCAR #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/z787DqkPwu
— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 21, 2017
