Sebastien Bourdais is targeting a quick return to action following his horror crash in Indy 500 qualifying.
Former F1 driver Bourdais suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip in an alarming incident on Saturday, in which he lost control of his Dale Coyne Racing car and smashed head-on into a barrier at a speed in excess of 200mph.
Bourdais underwent successful surgery on his injuries and shared a photo on Monday evening that showed him standing up in hospital with the aid of crutches.
The image was accompanied by the light-hearted caption: "I'm not going to go for a run tomorrow, but I'm up! Thank you all for your support."
Dale Coyne, the owner of Bourdais' team, told Motorsport.com: "[On the] first day after the crash he was saying he wanted to be back for Sonoma [the IndyCar season finale]. I said, 'No, skip Sonoma, then you've got an extra four months to heal, and come back in January and we'll do it right'.
"Then today he was saying he was figuring if there was any way possible to do Le Mans for Chip [Ganassi]. That's next month! Claire [his wife] said no to that one.
"But yeah, he's anxious to get back and Claire's not putting any pressure on him to quit racing. And as I said to them yesterday, that accident was as big an accident as you can have at this place, and you're sitting here and talking and joking and you're already starting to stand.
"The true measure of a man is not on a good day, it's on a bad day, and bad days make you want to come back and be that much more successful. People walk away hating this place after something like that, but they can't wait to get back and try and do it right."
