Marcus Ericsson's late-race rally highlights a caution-filled race in Markham
- Jeffrey Hrunka
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor
Markum, ON - After wrecking out of first practice to start Saturday morning, Marcus Ericsson finds himself in victory lane after chasing down Romain Grosjean in the closing laps of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday afternoon. He led Grosjean and teammate Will Power to an all-Honda podium.
"I mean, it feels great to have the confidence from the team to continue. But I feel like this year, it's been a trend all season that we've been strong,” Ericsson, driver of No.28 Andretti Global Honda, said. “I don't see this as sort of a surprise that we're sitting here winning. I feel like that's been trending that way.”
Ericsson’s victory marked his second podium of the season, and first win since the 2023 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“I always feel like mental strength and that ability to push myself, even when things don't go your way, it's been one of my biggest strengths as a driver. Even last year with the year we had, I don't think there was any scenario last year where I would have won a race because I just wasn't fast,” Ericsson said. “Things didn't work out, we were in a spiral.”
The series of firsts didn’t stop there, as Grosjean, driver of the No.18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, earned his first podium of the season, after not having a seat last season. While estatic for the poduim finish, he fell short of his first race win since 2011 in GP2 at the Hungaoring.“I cried a little. I'm not going to lie,” Grosjean said. “But control what you can control. I think that comes from Andre Agassi, the book read. I did everything I could.”
Power rounded out a double podium for Andretti Global, not only marking his fourth of the season, but his first series of back-to-back podium finishes in 2023.
“Good day. Obviously it would be nice to get a win, but I keep getting podiums,” Power said. “That's all we're looking for, really good race pace, good strategies and everything.”
Although the race ended with a 28-lap green flag run, the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham will be known for the six full-course yellows for 25 caution laps.
After a tame 15-lap green flag run to start the race, the chaos kicked off when Mick Schumacher, driver of the No.47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, slammed the Turn 4 barrier. This caution split the strategy and brought podium runner-up Grosjean into play, as he pitted before the full-course yellow to line up second on the ensuing restart.
A caution from Marcus Armstrong, driver of the No.66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, spinning in Turn 5 on Lap 31, sparked the start of four consecutive caution periods.
Scott Dixon, driver of the No.9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, brought out the first of yellow flag periods 14 laps later, as he cut off Dennis Hauger, driver of the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, spinning him and ending the day for Christian Rasmussen, who made contact trying to avoid Dixon, hitting the retaining wall.
After a lengthy repair, Louis Foster, driver of the No.45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, and Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the No.27 Andretti Global Honda, had separate one-car incidents, hitting the wall in Turn 3 on Laps 43 and 47, respectively.
The race finally saw a lengthy green flag run again, after Nolan Siegel, driver of the No.6 Arrow-McLaren Chevrolet, spun Josef Newgarden, driver of the No.2 Team Penske Chevorlet, in Turn 5.
Through the series of cautions, teammates Marcus Ericsson and Will Power, driver of the No.26, stayed out in an attempt not only to gain track position, but to put themselves in a place to have a tire advantage over the rest of the field by pitting later.
Ericsson took this to the extreme, letting every competitor around him pit and pulling a 14-second lead after the final caution period ahead of his final stop on Lap 70. After exiting pit road sixth, Ericsson had 19 laps to retake the lead. During this time, Grosjean found himself back in the lead by passing cars on the alternate strategy under each restart during the lengthy series of cautions. The Frenchman was able to pull a four-second lead on second-place runner Palou before Ericsson took the field by storm.
Ericsson eventually chased down Grosjean, who every with an overtake (push-to-pass) advantage couldn’t hold off the Andretti Global driver, who passed him with four to go, for his first win of the season.“I feel like we've had quite a few big results and podiums taken away from us,” Ericsson said. “All the year, on every type of track, we've been fast. I think that says a lot about the Andretti Global organization.”
Even with the surplus of caution periods, drivers praised the racing surface and on-track product that it showed.
“I got to say that I'm very impressed with this weekend generally,” Grosjean said. “Smooth tarmac like this makes the racing so much nicer for us compared to some other places.”
For others, it was the commitment required to be fast around the 2.19-mile circuit.
"A very cool track. I said it from the first laps, epic track. Very high commitment. Cool street course,” Power said. You got to be so on your toes to drive it."
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Ontario Honda Dealers INDY at Markham Results:
Marcus Ericsson #28 - (WINNER)
Romain Grosjean #18 -7.531s
Will Power #26 -10.558s
Alex Palou #10 -10.745s
Pato O’Ward #5 -11.166s
Christian Lundgaard #7 -21.784
Rinus Veekay #76 -22.17s
Scott McLaughlin #3 -25.443s
Graham Rahal #15 -26.007s
Santino Ferrucci #14 -26.925s
Sting Ray Robb #77 -39.536s
Nolan Siegel #6 -40.184s
Josef Newgarden #2 -41.281s
Kyffin Simpson #8 -1:08.717s
Dennis Hauger #19 (R) -1 lap down (Off Course)
Marcus Armstrong #66 -1 lap down
David Malukas #12 -1 lap down
Scott Dixon #9 -5 laps down
Caio Collet #4 (R) -22 laps down (DNF)
Alexander Rossi #20 -23 laps down (Mechanical)
Kyle Kirkwood #27 -36 laps down (Incident)
Louis Foster #45 -47 laps down (Incident)
Christian Rasmussen #21 -54 laps down (Incident)
Felix Rosenqvist #60 -71 laps down (Mechanical)
Mick Schumacher #47 (R) -75 laps down (Incident)
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action on the Streets of Washington, D.C., for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23. Fans can tune in to the action at 11:35 pm EST on FOX or the FOX One app.
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