Carpenter, Sato set Indy pace, Bourdais crashes
American Ed Carpenter and Japan's Takuma Sato led nine finalists for Sunday's Indianapolis 500 pole position battle while France's Sebastien Bourdais suffered a fractured hip and pelvis after a fiery wreck in Saturday qualifying. Carpenter, the 2013 and 2014 Indy 500 pole sitter, had a four-lap qualifying average of 230.468 mph (370.902 km/hr) in his Chevrolet-powered car. "It was exciting, a little surprising," Carpenter said. "I thought I could run 230 for a lap or two, but I wasn't sure if I could run four." Sato was second best, averaging 230.382 mph in his Honda-powered entry to ensure his best starting position in eight Indy appearances. "Car was super fast. Everything worked really seamlessly," Sato said. "We have still room to improve." Practice speed leader Bourdais drove Saturday's two fastest qualifying laps, averaging above 231 mph, before losing control in turn two on the third lap. He slammed head first into the wall and flipped over as his car became engulfed in flames. He was awake and alert when taken to Methodist Hospital, where X-rays revealed the extent of his injuries. He is expected to undergo surgery to repair multiple fractures in his pelvis. "Sebastien is in good hands," said Dale Coyne, Bourdais' car owner. "Now we just wait for him to recover." The fate of the Frenchman's fast car was uncertain, with repairs and a new driver possible to put the vehicle into the May 28 race. "I just really hope Sebastien is OK," said American driver Marco Andretti. In all, 31 drivers booked a berth in the oval classic at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the fastest nine getting a chance for the inside front row starting spot. After Carpenter and Sato, Sunday's other pole hopefuls are Spain's Fernando Alonso, the Formula One racer skipping Monaco for a chance to race at Indy for the first time, plus New Zealand's Scott Dixon, Australian Will Power, Brazil's Tony Kanaan, defending champion Alexander Rossi and his fellow Americans J.R. Hildebrand and Andretti. "The point of today is to get into that fast nine and see if we can tinker with the car and find a little more speed and get onto the pole tomorrow," Dixon said. "When we have a pretty clean run like we did, we feel like we've really accomplished something." Alonso, who drifted near the outer wall exiting the third turn on his final qualifying lap, ranked seventh on the four-lap speed list at 230.034 mph in his first taste of Indy qualifying tension. "It gets stressful. It gets difficult, tricky. But at the same time, huge adrenaline when you cross the line," Alonso said. "I'm not totally happy with the run. I could find a little bit more somewhere. I think I can go faster tomorrow. "We can do small tweaks to the setup to make the run a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more consistent hopefully." The two-time F1 champion is learning with every lap. "You cannot do two laps the same way, with the wind, (car) degradation," he said. "Every lap you need to keep learning, keep improving. "The car has been great all week. That gave me the confidence to push it to the limit. The potential is there and today was 90 percent."
