James Davison to Replace Sebastien Bourdais for Indianapolis 500

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Following Sebastien Bourdais’s accident in qualifying for the 101st Indianapolis 500, James Davison has been selected to replace the Frenchman in the No. 18 GEICO Honda for Dale Coyne Racing.

Bourdais suffered a fractured right hip and several fractures to his pelvis after hitting the wall during his third lap in qualifying. Bourdais had posted the two fastest laps of the day before losing traction in Turn 2, hitting the wall.

“It’s never easy when you have to replace an injured driver, but the important thing is that Sebastien is going to fully recover from his injuries and we’ll be waiting for him when he’s ready to come back,” said team owner Dale Coyne in a team release.

Davison has two previous starts at the Indy 500, with a best finish of 16th in 2014 with KV Racing. Three of his four starts in the Verizon IndyCar Series have come with DCR, last coming in 2015 at Indianapolis.

“My thoughts are with Sebastien and Claire Bourdais. 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,” said Davison.