Marcus Ericsson dodged multiple incidents in a chaotic season-opening race for the NTT Indycar Series, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday in a day overflowing with drama.
Ericsson earned his fourth career series victory by 2.4113 seconds in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda over runner-up Pato O’Ward.
Ericsson, who started fourth, took the lead when O’Ward slowed suddenly exiting turn 14 on lap 97 of the 100-lap race when his engine shut off momentarily due to a brief fire in the plenum chamber of his powerplant.
“I feel bad for Pato for having the issue, but that’s racing,” Ericsson said. “You need to get there to the finish line. We were having such a good weekend. The car was fantastic all the way through. We were hunting him down, putting the pressure on, and that’s when things happen. It was a hell of a start to the season.”
Scott Dixon finished third, with Alexander Rossi in fourth, and Callum Ilott in fifth.
O’Ward took the lead on lap 74 when leader Scott McLaughlin and second place Romain Grosjean collided while dueling side by side for the lead, both plunging into the tire barriers in turn 4. McLaughlin had just exited the pits on cold Firestone tires after Grosjean had pitted earlier and was on warm rubber, and McLaughlin took responsibility for the incident in a post-race interview.
McLaughlin and pole sitter Grosjean were the dominant drivers out front, leading 37 and 31 laps, respectively.
On the ensuing restart on lap 79, O’Ward built a 2.8-second lead in just one lap and appeared to be destined for victory. But Ericsson steadily chipped at O’Ward’s gap, helped by saving twice as much Push-to-Pass time as O’Ward for the final stint of the race.
Ericsson pulled to within one-half second of O’Ward on lap 97 when O’Ward’s car suddenly slowed with the plenum problem and then regained speed.
“We did everything right today,” a crestfallen O’Ward said. “There’s always something. The boys deserved that. Compared to where we were here last year, this is a massive step. But we gave that one away. We can’t have that happen anymore. I know we’re second, but …”
Ericsson slipped past O’Ward, taking the lead for the first time and cruising to the checkered flag to enthrall a chanting corps of Swedish fans in the grandstands.
Two major incidents on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit thinned the 27-car field in the first half of the race.
On a restart on lap 41, Rinus VeeKay’s Chevrolet nosed into the barriers in turn 4 amid heavy traffic. Jack Harvey had nowhere to go and plowed into the back of VeeKay. Then the trailing car of Kyle Kirkwood hit the rear of Harvey’s car and vaulted over that machine and VeeKay’s wounded car.
Harvey was taken to a local hospital in stable condition for further evaluation as a precautionary measure, according to IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Julia Vaizer. The other drivers in the incident were unhurt.
The race started with a chaotic incident on the first lap. Felix Rosenqvist and Dixon made side-by-side contact in turn 2, with Rosenqvist being shoved into light wall contact.
That minor clash triggered a big, chain-reaction collision involving six cars that wiped out two teams’ hopes for a strong finish in the race. Drivers involved included Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Santino Ferrucci, Benjamin Pedersen, Devlin DeFrancesco and Sting Ray Robb.
DeFrancesco’s car was tossed into the air in a pirouette when t-boned by Pedersen in the unfolding maelstrom. None of the drivers involved in the incident was hurt.
The next NTT IndyCar Series race will be on Sunday, April 2 on the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway.
NTT IndyCar Series
Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, FL
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – March 5, 2023
1. (4) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
2. (3) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
4. (12) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
5. (22) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (20) Graham Rahal, Honda, 100, Running
7. (10) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (7) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
9. (11) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
10. (16) David Malukas, Honda, 100, Running
11. (13) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
12. (21) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
13. (6) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 99, Running
14. (26) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 99, Running
15. (5) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 97, Running
16. (23) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 96, Off Course
17. (14) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
18. (1) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 71, Contact
19. (8) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 51, Retired
20. (2) Colton Herta, Honda, 49, Contact
21. (24) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 41, Contact
22. (19) Jack Harvey, Honda, 41, Contact
23. (15) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 0, Contact
24. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
25. (18) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 0, Contact
26. (25) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 0, Contact
27. (27) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
Winner’s average speed: 86.047 mph
Time of Race: 2:05:30.7907 Margin of victory: 2.4113 seconds
Cautions: 6 for 26 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 6 drivers
Lap Leaders: Grosjean, Romain 1-31; McLaughlin, Scott 32-34; Dixon, Scott 35-37; McLaughlin, Scott 38-71; Malukas, David 72-73; O’Ward, Pato 74-96; Ericsson, Marcus 97-100
Point Standings: Ericsson 51, O’Ward 41, Dixon 36, Rossi 32, Ilott 30, Rahal 28, Power 26, Palou 24, Lundgaard 22, Malukas 21, McLaughlin 20, Armstrong 19, Canapino 18, Daly 16, Kirkwood 15, Grosjean 14, Robb 14, Newgarden 13, Rosenqvist 11, Herta 10, VeeKay 9, Harvey 8, Castroneves 7, Ferrucci 6, DeFrancesco 5, Pedersen 5, Pagenaud 5.