Marcus Ericsson of Sweden opened the new IndyCar Series campaign with a bang, moving in front late in the race to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday in Florida.
Ericsson finished 2.4113 seconds ahead of runner-up Pato O’Ward of Mexico. Scott Dixon of New Zealand, Alexander Rossi and Great Britain’s Callum Ilott rounded out the top five.
Ericsson, driver of the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, claimed his fourth IndyCar Series victory and his first since winning the Indianapolis 500 last May.
“I think people forget us in some conversations, as well, when they talk about the championship. We’re here to win,” Ericsson said in his post-race TV interview. “We won the 500 last year. We were leading the championship for a long time. It’s our mission this year, so this is a good start to it.”
O’Ward was left frustrated after his car briefly lost power with three laps to go, allowing Ericsson to pass him and hold on for victory.
“We did everything right today. There’s always something,” O’Ward said. “The boys deserved that. Dallas is next, so we’ll fight for that one. Compared to where we were last year here, it’s a massive step. We just gave that one away. We can’t have that happen anymore.”
British driver Jack Harvey was involved in an accident when his car ran into a tire barrier and Kyle Kirkwood’s car went airborne, driving over Rinus VeeKay’s and Harvey’s. Harvey was in stable condition but taken to a hospital for further evaluation, according to IndyCar.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean began in pole position but crashed alongside Scott McLaughlin, the defending champion at St. Petersburg.
–Field Level Media
