Ho-Pin Tung has been ruled out of the rest of Indianapolis 500 qualifying after sustaining a mild concussion when he crashed on Pole Day.
The Dragon Racing driver, who is also part of the Renault Formula 1 team's testing roster, is attempting to become the first Chinese racer to compete at Indy. He was taken to Methodist Hospital for checks after spinning into the Turn 1 wall on the final lap of his first qualifying run this morning. Having been diagnosed with a mild concussion, he was not cleared to return to the cockpit and cannot drive again before a second test in seven days' time.
Although that means Tung will not be able to participate in the final Bump Day qualifying session on Sunday, Indy 500 rules permit teams to use substitute drivers. If a stand-in successfully got the Dragon car in the field tomorrow, it would then have to drop to the tail of the order before the start if Tung was declared fit to take over for the race.
After a rain delay, the Fast Nine shootout for the pole is now under way. Alex Tagliani set the fast speed of the preliminary session with a lap of 226.954mph.