Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing driver Charlie Kimball crashes into the first turn wall during practice for the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday. — Reuters INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — France's Sebastien Bourdais led the last nine qualifiers for the 96th Indianapolis 500 in Sunday's second and final day of time trials for next Sunday's signature IndyCar oval showdown. A day after Australian Ryan Briscoe claimed pole position for the race with a four-lap qualifying average of 226.484 mph around the 2.5-mile (4 kilometer) oval, the slowest drivers completed the 33-car starting grid's 11 rows of three. Bourdais, who won four Champ-Car season titles in a row from 2004 to 2007, claimed the inside spot on row nine with a four-lap speed average of 223.760 mph followed by New Zealand's Wade Cunningham and Spain's Oriol Servia. American Ed Carpenter and England's Mike Conway and Katherine Legge were in row 10, with American Bryan Clauson, Swiss Simona de Silvestro and France's Jean Alesi in the last row. Alesi, who turns 48 two weeks after the race, will make his Indy 500 debut after a career that includes more than 200 Formula One starts. At 210.094 mph, he was the slowest qualifier just 11 days after driving his first oval laps. Traditional bumping of slow cars from the field was not done this year because major changes in chassis and engine rules for this season led to only 33 cars spending the money to make an Indy bid. The 33-car field average speed is 222.888 mph, down from last year's average of 225.273 mph.
