Sebastien Bourdais has posted his latest update on his recovery process from pelvic fractures and hip injuries on Thursday morning, as the Frenchman continues to get back on track after his accident in qualifying May 20 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Bourdais, who was discharged from hospital, returned to IMS track on Indianapolis 500 race day and has since come back home to Florida, said he is progressing well in his recovery and said he is close to walking properly again.
Update. Thx for all the messages. Feeling better everyday, 2 weeks out from walking ish, spirits are good, more to come soon!
— Sébastien Bourdais (@BourdaisOnTrack) June 15, 2017
Thanks everyone @RehabHospofIN , you guys were awesome! See you next year on both feet. https://t.co/pewFiBYdf2
— Sébastien Bourdais (@BourdaisOnTrack) June 2, 2017
This week is a bit of a tough one for Bourdais, as he isn’t on site in Le Mans with a chance to defend his crown at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as he won the GTE-Pro class in the No. 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT with Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand last year.
However, Bourdais’ stead is being filled by Le Mans rookie Tony Kanaan, who is thoroughly soaking up the experience and admits he has the pressure to try to win to match Bourdais’ shoes!
Kanaan made his Ford GT race debut at this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race the same trio of Mueller, Hand and Bourdais won here in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“Seb is French, he lives here, and he won the race, so no pressure!! Very, very easy!” Kanaan laughed to reporters at Le Mans this week.
Bourdais told Motorsport.com earlier this week the unexpected upside of his injuries was that he was happy not to be in the Verizon IndyCar Series’ most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Three drivers have taken his place thus far in his No. 18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing since, with James Davison (Indianapolis 500), Esteban Gutierrez (Detroit) and Tristan Vautier (Texas) on board.