James Davison will replace the injured Sebastien Bourdais for the rest of the Indianapolis 500, with the Australian set to make his third start in the legendary event and his first since 2015.
Davison had been hoping to run in a fourth Dale Coyne Racing car for the month of May but his funding was deemed insufficient, but with Bourdais ruled out due to his injuries suffered in his horror crash during Saturday’s qualifying session, the 2009 Indy Lights runner-up stepping into the #18 Honda alongside Ed Jones and Pippa Mann.
“My thoughts are with Sebastien and 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.”
Davison’s first action will be during Monday’s three-and-a-half hour practice session but due to missing qualifying on Sunday, he will be starting his third Indianapolis 500 from the very back of the grid.
“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.
“We’ve worked with James in the past and he’s done a good job for us, he’s familiar with the team and knows how we work so it was an easy decision when came the time to find someone to fill the #18 seat.”
