At one point in Sunday evening’s media conference with the Indianapolis 500 winner, someone asked Marcus Ericsson a question about being the overlooked driver in the Chip Ganassi Racing team. It wasn’t a question without merit. There’s six-time champion Scott Dixon – one of the pillars at Ganassi for more than two decades. There’s Alex
Month: May 2022
Chip Ganassi and Ed Carpenter Racing drivers locked out the Fast Six pole shootout, but while Ganassi ended up first and third with Ericsson and Tony Kanaan, ECR’s best representative at the flag was Conor Daly in sixth. Daly climbed from 17th on the grid to 12th in the early laps and made his first pitstop
The seven-time NASCAR Cup champion was contesting his first Indy 500 and only his second oval race in an open-wheeler after adding ovals to his road-course-only 2021 schedule. After a strong Month of May for the five-car Ganassi squad, with his four team-mates making the Fast Six pole shootout, Johnson impressed by qualifying 12th. In
Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward to score his maiden Indy 500 win, only his third in IndyCar competition after arriving from F1 in 2019, and the fifth for Ganassi’s storied team since 2000. Polesitter and 2008 Indy victor Scott Dixon had led for 95 laps but a pitlane speeding penalty dropped him out of contention
The 2015 Nurburgring winner had taken over the #911 Manthey Porsche from Kevin Estre and was battling for third with his younger brother’s Phoenix Audi on lap 23 when they made side-to-side contact in the fast sequence of bends approaching the Hohenrain chicane. The touch between the Audi’s left rear and Porsche’s right front caused
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dixon became the all-time lap leader for the biggest open-wheel race in America, surpassing Al Unser Sr’s record of 644 laps led on lap 133 of the 2022 Indy 500. Dixon started the day third on the list and passed Ralph dePalma’s mark of 612 just before half distance. Polesitter Dixon looked
Ericsson, who had been leading by three seconds before the red flag came out for Jimmie Johnson’s shunt, employed a series of weaving defensive manoeuvres down the straight over the final two lap shootout to stave off the Arrow McLaren SP driver’s attack over the penultimate lap. But on the exit of Turn 4 O’Ward
Following the final round of stops, in which his Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon had led 95 laps but was penalised for speeding in the pitlane, Ericsson emerged in third behind the two Arrow McLaren SP cars of Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward. But he passed the pair of them to take the lead,
Ericsson had picked up the lead following the final series of pitstops, moving past O’Ward as the Mexican driver rejoined behind Arrow McLaren SP team-mate Felix Rosenqvist. This was after Scott Dixon, who had led the majority of laps in the race, was caught speeding in the pitlane on his final stop and thus had
Kelvin van der Linde drove home the win for the Meuspath-based squad after 159 laps, equalling the race’s distance record. As ever, the race was not without drama with several contenders disappearing from the frontline before nightfall. After surviving the night, the Phoenix Audi still had two opponents to defeat, the two GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3s,
After a speeding violation forced the car he shared with Kevin Estre, Fred Makowiecki and Michael Christensen to start from the back of the GT3 field, Vanthoor was fighting over third place with his younger brother Dries Vanthoor’s Phoenix Audi. The pair duelled on the long Dottinger Hohe straight and continued to run side-by-side approaching
The 36-year-old Andretti Autosport driver, who scored 10 podium finishes in F1 before switching to IndyCar for the 2021 season, will be making only his third oval start in the Indy 500. He made his oval debut at Gateway’s 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway last year, finishing 14th, and retired due to mechanical dramas at
The 24th Indy 500, held in 1936, was the first to feature the Borg-Warner Trophy as the award for the winner, and the first time the winner was given the official pace car. But it’s what winner Louis Meyer did immediately after the race that initiated the most unusual of traditions. Meyer, born in Manhattan and
The 22-year-old had just completed his 43rd lap of the 90-minute session when his car twitched at Turn 1, the back end stepping out and sending him into the outside wall. In the impact with the SAFER barrier, firstly with the rear-right corner before the right-front corner connected, the car’s nose elevated and the air
The 2015 ADAC GT Masters champion and son of three-times Le Mans 24 Hours winner Klaus, set an unbeatable time of 8m09.469s with the only sub 8m10s lap of the decisive session. Ludwig also posted an 8m10.406s effort that would have been good enough for pole in the car he shares with Bjorn Grossmann, Simon
Shell’s new fuel will consist of a blend of second-generation ethanol derived from sugarcane waste and other biofuels. Currently, the fuel used by IndyCar is a variation of E85, which contains 85% ethanol and 15% high-octane racing fuel. The new renewable fuel offers at least a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the
Following his win at Barber Motorsports Park earlier this month, O’Ward hinted a new deal was imminent and this was confirmed by McLaren CEO Zak Brown mere days later. Prior to Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, which O’Ward will start from seventh position, the team confirmed that the 23-year-old Mexican would indeed be staying on. “I am incredibly
“I never felt I won anything before I had actually won it, except one time,” says 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack, “and that was when I made the comeback to Indy in 2005.” Brack had broken both ankles, a leg, his sternum and back in the 2003 Indy Racing League crash at Texas that
How has the prize fund for the Indy 500 evolved? Since its first running in 1911, the winner’s take-home cheque has ballooned from the $14,250 that Ray Harroun received that year. Over time, some serious financial barriers were broken, notably in 1957 when Sam Hanks took home $103k, Danny Sullivan’s famous spin-and-win in 1985 was
When former IndyCar racer Sarah Fisher pulls off in the Corvette pace car and Whiplash actor Miles Teller waves the green flag to start the race, the field of 33 will have a single goal in mind – glugging the milk in victory lane and kissing the bricks with their victorious crew after 200 laps
McLaughlin, like team-mate Josef Newgarden, pulled his time to try and improve and join team-mate Will Power in the Top 12 segment after setting the 15th-fastest time with his first qualifying run on Saturday, held in the heat of the day. But in dense, muggy air that followed a rainstorm, his car had too much
As Kimi Raikkonen walked out of the paddock on Sunday night in Abu Dhabi, it was very clear that he was done with Formula 1. On Friday, Raikkonen had sat down with Autosport for what was meant to be a quick interview. It overran by around 10 minutes, to the surprise of his Alfa Romeo
Raikkonen will join up with Trackhouse Racing for the road course race at Watkins Glen on 21 August, driving a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 alongside team-mates Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain. It will mark Raikkonen’s first outing in a motorsport event since he called time on his 20-year F1 career last December with his final appearance
After the thrill of seeing the 2008 Indy 500 winner nail a record-breaking lap to take his fifth pole position for the championship’s most famous event, it’s time for the main business to begin. If that sounds like it’s trivialising the efforts of all the teams last week, it isn’t: the thing is, it’s almost
Power and his Team Penske Chevrolet team-mates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin will roll off 11th, 14th and 26th on Sunday, which means all are starting from the middle of their respective rows on the 11-rows-of-three grid. Power will have feisty former winner Takuma Sato to his left and Indy 500 rookie Jimmie Johnson to
In 1935, the Borg-Warner Corporation commissioned a commemorative trophy to honour the Indianapolis 500 winners. The art deco trophy stands 5ft 4.75in high including its base, has handles shaped like wings to represent speed, and weighs in at 110lbs, of which 80lbs is sterling silver. But its most remarkable and appealing aspect is the bas-relief
The Trackhouse team run by Justin Marks and co-owned by rapper Pitbull already fields two Cup Series entries for Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, but plans to enter its #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at least once during the remainder of this Cup season. It intends to expand the programme in the future. “Project 91’s mission
Under the programme, dubbed ‘Project 91,’ Trackhouse Racing will enter the #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at least once during the remainder of this Cup season with plans to expand it in the future. The first international driver to participate in the programme will be announced with the next few days. Previous international drivers in the
Under the programme, dubbed ‘Project 91,’ Trackhouse Racing will enter the #91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at least once during the remainder of this Cup season with plans to expand it in the future. The first international driver to participate in the program will be announced with the next few days. Previous international drivers in the
Rossi confirmed to Autosport his new contract could not be disclosed at this stage for legal reasons, leaving questions open about whether he is continuing with Andretti Autosport or making a switch to Arrow McLaren SP. Asked what was his priority when weighing up options for a new deal, the 2016 Indy 500 winner said: