Ericsson and O’Ward win dramatic Detroit double-header

O’Ward storms into points lead

IndyCar is bursting with fresh talent right now, but none are more dynamic and exciting as O’Ward. The Mexican started P16 on Sunday in the second of the two races in Detroit, but charged through the field to claim a sensational victory.

Two late safety car interruptions, on lap 54 and 63 of 70, gave him opportunities to make up ground and he pounced on six-time champion Scott Dixon for fifth as the race went green after the first one. Graham Rahal was his next victim following the last safety car period of the race, then in the final stages O’Ward despatched Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou and then second-placed Colton Herta with determined moves. But he saved the best to last.

Remarkably, mighty Team Penske has yet to win a race this season and after Will Power’s terrible luck in race one (see below), Josef Newgarden looked odds-on to set that poor record right on Sunday. The two-time champion led 67 laps, but when it counted he found himself on the wrong tyres – the softer red-walled Firestones most drivers had used and got rid of early on. Starting on the primes had given Newgarden the opportunity to gain track position, but on the red-walls he struggled to hold back O’Ward at the climax.

A twitch out a turn gave the Mexican his chance on lap 68 and the black and orange Dallara moved up alongside the long-time leader. After a puff of contact O’Ward was through to claim not only his second victory of the year – remarkably, breaking the run of different winners at each round – but also the series points lead.

A future McLaren Formula 1 ace? On this evidence, it might be worth placing a tenner…

Ericsson wins first race as Will powers down

Two red flag stoppages interrupted the first 70-lap race on Saturday as ex-Sauber F1 driver Marcus Ericsson claimed his first IndyCar victory, in Chip Ganassi’s Honda-powered #8 entry. But the Swede’s win was inherited after disaster struck Team Penske’s race leader Will Power during the second of the two stoppages.

The red flag had flown when Romain Grosjean crashed on his own with five laps to go. The race could have finished under yellow flags, but perhaps IndyCar took a leaf from Formula 1 and the decision to stop and restart the Azerbaijan GP with just two laps to run… Whatever the motive, it fell badly for Power whose Chevy-powered Dallara refused to re-fire for the finale. The Australian was deeply frustrated to watch Ericsson roll past him to take the restart and his victory, ahead of the increasingly impressive Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) and O’Ward, who had started from pole position.

Lucky escape for Rosenqvist

The first red flag was most certainly warranted when Felix Rosenqvist suffered a terrifying crash in his Arrow McLaren SP entry on lap 25, when his Chevy-powered car went full throttle at Turn 6. The horrific impact pushed back the concrete retaining wall and it was feared that the 29-year-old might be in big trouble.

Fortunately he escaped serious injury and was released from hospital the following day. “Even watching this hurts,” Rosenqvist said in an Instagram post. “Damn that was a big hit! Impressive how safe and strong these cars are built. Thanks Dallara, IndyCar and the on-track medical team. Being released from hospital now, full focus on recovering for Road America next week.”

It never ceases to amaze how tough these racing drivers are, in the wake of such a shunt.

Toyota hits a century

Over in Europe, the second round of the World Endurance Championship arrived at Portimao in Portugal, with Toyota marking its 100^th start in a race counting for a global sportscar series. No surprise, it won, just as the Japanese marque’s new GR010 Hybrid Hypercar did at the season opener at Spa – but the two Gazoo Racing entries were at least pushed hard by Alpine’s grandfathered LMP1, which actually proved faster on pace under the Balance of Performance rules.

The French car took pole position, with Nicolas Lapierre leading the early stages of the race, but its smaller fuel tank, which means lighter fuel loads but shorter stint lengths compared to the GR010s, ultimately pushed the Alpine back to third because it needed an extra pitstop. As usual, there was little between the #7 and #8 Toyotas, honours this time falling to the latter driven by Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley who made better use of strategy. Jose Maria Lopez needed a splash and dash of fuel in the final hour, although he made his stop under a full course yellow, ensuring a tight finish. Toyota then made a meal of its team orders protocol, allowing Lopez back through to see if the Argentine had extra pace, then rightfully allowed Buemi to resume his lead when that proved not to be the case. Not the sort of actions WEC needs with such a poorly supported top class at the moment.

The good news was the new Glickenhaus SCG 007 added to the new Hypercar entries and the solo effort driven by Ryan Briscoe, Romain Dumas and Richard Westbrook at least passed the chequered. The bad news was it finished 54 laps behind the leader after Briscoe tapped a GTE-Am entry and spun, leading to a long delay for repairs. Still, the car needs race mileage to be competitive at the Le Mans 24 Hours in August, and at Portimao the team at least managed 246 laps to learn much more about what they have to work with.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.