It’s been widespread follow for a few years that Marcus Ericsson is on monitor throughout one of many greatest weekends in racing. Simply over a decade in the past, he was getting ready to tackle the streets of Monaco as an F1 driver with Caterham (he’d end eleventh). That modified in 2019, when the Swede took on his first Indianapolis 500. It will take solely three extra Indy 500s for him to grow to be immortalized with the names of legends — his face now gracing the well-known world-renown Borg-Warner Trophy.
“Lots of people say it’s a life-changing factor to win that race. And I’d say, it’s true,” the 2022 Indy 500 champion shared with Motorsport.com in an unique interview.
“It’s the largest race on this planet — particularly right here within the US,” he stated. “It’s like a Tremendous Bowl, however for racing. So, in the event you win it, it actually type of places you on a special degree within the racing world, particularly right here within the US. And you’ll all the time be a 500 champion, 500 winner. It sorta raises your standing by fairly a bit.
“For me as effectively, like simply personally, all my profession, all of the sacrifices and all of the work that I put in to get up to now and type of make all that price it, occasions one million. Since you win the largest race on this planet, and also you get your face on the Borg-Warner Trophy, and all these issues.”
Marcus Ericsson celebrating his 2022 Indy 500 win with Chip Ganassi on the rostrum.
Picture by: Getty Pictures, Jamie Squire
Previous to coming to the States in 2019, when Ericsson would tackle the IndyCar collection and the five hundred race for the primary time with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, he understood a few of the specialness of taking part in “The Best Spectacle in Racing.” However even the primary time experiencing the month of Could was overwhelming, whereas additionally enlightening.
“I bear in mind my first 12 months in 2019 once I did my first 500 was such a watch opener for me to see, like, the magnitude of this race. And I used to be similar to, ‘Oh, my God, that is so cool.’ After which, once I received it, it was like one other degree of that. It is like, how a lot celebrations, how a lot belongings you bought to do. It is like a 12 months lengthy celebration, principally after it. And that, for me, I feel you are by no means actually ready for that and the way that’s.”
Methods to discover success on the Indianapolis 500
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti International
Picture by: Penske Leisure
And it wasn’t a simple race for the then-rookie. He did handle to maintain within the prime 10 nearly all of the race — however ended early after a rear lock-up and spin took him out. 2020 he took on his second 500, now with Chip Ganassi Racing and sporting the Huski Chocolate Chip livery we’d come to affiliate together with his later 500 win. Contact in Flip 1 through the race would finish his day in thirty second. 2021 he lastly completed the race in eleventh, his highest end but, having managed to run in second-place on a few events as effectively.
Whereas unlucky circumstances coming from making an attempt to tame an IndyCar on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended his first two probabilities prematurely, Ericsson, like a lot of his driving counterparts who additionally ran careers primarily in Europe earlier than taking up the IndyCar collection, are likely to adapt to the ovals, that are close to non-existent there, fairly effectively.
“It is attention-grabbing. I feel it is quite a bit about mindset. , such as you stated, oval racing is one thing you by no means get to expertise in in Europe. So it is very totally different. However for me, it was one of many massive causes I needed to return to America and IndyCar — was to try to race the ovals and race [the] 500. I used to be all the time type of intrigued by that type of problem of driving in these speeds and having no margin for error, and that basically you get from driving, you recognize, 230 plus miles an hour. It was simply one thing that I needed to expertise.
“I feel my curiosity round it helped me grow to be good at it. So I get that is the largest factor. I feel some drivers, they arrive from Europe, then come over right here and so they’re type of hesitant about it, and so they do not wish to, you recognize… they need there [were] no ovals and stuff like that. And I feel you probably have that mindset, it’s gonna be laborious to be actually good at it. I came to visit and I used to be like, I wish to be taught. I wish to be the perfect at oval racing. After which, you recognize, I had that sort of mindset, and I feel that is helped me quite a bit to to grow to be a extremely good oval racer.”
Josef Newgarden, Staff Penske and Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, race into flip one on a restart through the Indianapolis 500
Picture by: Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures
Technically, Ericsson can declare he’s amongst a particular group of the perfect oval (open-wheel) racers after changing into a 500 winner. He almost claimed it to be true for a second time as effectively — with the last-lap shootout in 2023 between himself and Staff Penske’s Josef Newgarden. He missed incomes a back-to-back 500 win by .0974 of a second. As a substitute, Newgarden earned his first of what would grow to be back-to-back 500 wins.
“It is all the time gonna be a little bit of a sting for me fascinated with it,” Ericsson shared. “I used to be so shut going again to again and if that race would have been known as prefer it [had been] known as for over 100 years, I’d be back-to-back champion. However on the identical time, you recognize, that is, that is the way it goes. This race is exclusive in its personal manner. And you recognize, I’ve accepted that. No matter occurred, occurred. If something, it simply made me hungry to try to win once more.
“It is all the time going to be painful to consider how shut I used to be… . It isn’t one thing that retains me up at night time. Most likely, like I say, giving me extra motivation to try to win it.”
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti International
Picture by: Penske Leisure
However what Ericsson says is vital going into his seventh Indy 500 operating the No. 28 Andretti International Allegra automobile, is persistence.
“I type of have a sure mindset going into the month of Could. It is a lengthy month with plenty of follow and qualifying weekend after which extra follow, and, you recognize, it is a lengthy, lengthy construct up, and it is about being there for the top of the race to win it, proper?
“I all the time say that persistence is the secret. For me, it is like being affected person and dealing step-by-step to get your self to some extent the place you possibly can struggle for the win. And I feel that is what made me profitable in ‘22 and ‘23 is having that type of persistence mindset. And I feel I have been taking part in that basically effectively this 12 months. Up to now, we have been actually taking it step-by-step and getting higher every day, and we’ve put ourselves in a extremely great place now going into race weekend. It is a powerful one. It is actually essentially the most tough race to win. However I feel we’ve the device set right here.”
However as groups, drivers, and followers know on the Indy 500 weekend, the winner isn’t decided by the motive force or group — the Speedway chooses.
“It’s true. I feel, ‘22 was my 12 months. [It] was simply meant to be, and I assume ‘23 wasn’t. So hopefully, I get some some good karma from what occurred in ‘23 and ‘24 after which will probably be my flip once more this 12 months. I would not thoughts that.”
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