DETROIT, June 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking
advantage of a late-race mechanical problem for Will Power, Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson leapt to the front of the field
following the second of two red flag race stoppages to win the
opening round of the Detroit Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES
weekend. The victory is the first for Ericsson, now in his
third season of Indy car competition, the third for Chip Ganassi
Racing this season and the fifth for Honda.
The 70-lap contest was stopped twice, first on Lap 24 for a
single-car crash that sent Felix
Rosenqvist hard into the Turn 6 retaining wall.
Rosenqvist was alert and conscious following the impact, but was
transported to a local hospital for additional evaluation.
Running a close second to race leader Power in the closing laps,
a second red flag – for Romain
Grojean's single-car crash – stopped the race with just
seven laps remaining. A mechanical issue for Power prevented
him from taking the restart, and Ericsson led the rest of the way
to take the checkers by 1.7 seconds over Rinus VeeKay.
Following Ericsson, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan trio of
Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal and Santino
Ferrucci finished fourth through sixth,
respectively.
Detroit Grand Prix Race 1 Honda Results
- 1st
Marcus Ericsson
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
|
- 4th
Takuma Sato
|
Rahal Letterman
Lanigan Honda
|
-
5th Graham Rahal
|
Rahal Letterman
Lanigan Honda
|
- 6th
Santino Ferrucci
|
Rahal Letterman
Lanigan Honda
|
- 7th
Alexander Rossi
|
Andretti Autosport
Honda
|
- 8th
Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
|
- 9th Ed
Jones
|
Dale Coyne Racing
with Vasser-Sullivan Honda
|
-
14th Colton Herta
|
Andretti Autosport
Honda
|
- 15th
Alex Palou
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
|
- 16th
Jack Harvey
|
Meyer Shank Racing
Honda
|
- 17th
James Hinchcliffe
|
Andretti Autosport
Honda
|
- 23rd
Romain Grosjean-R
|
Dale Coyne Racing
with RWR Honda
|
- 21st
Ryan Hunter-Reay
|
Andretti Autosport
Honda
|
- 24th
Jimmie Johnson-R
|
Chip Ganassi Racing
Honda
|
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship (unofficial,
after 7 rounds)
Honda
|
576 pts
|
Chevrolet
|
556
|
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers' Championship (unofficial, after 7
rounds)
1. Alex Palou, Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda
|
263 [1 race
win]
|
2. Pato O'Ward, Arrow
McLaren SP
|
248 [1 race
win]
|
3. Scott Dixon, Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda
|
237 points [1
win]
|
Quotes
Marcus Ericsson (Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda) Started 15th, finished first,
first career INDYCAR win in his third season with the series:
"The team's done such a great job, the Husky's Chocolate crew and
Honda, everyone on the [timing] stand and in the pits. It's a team
effort. Obviously, I feel bad for Will [Power, who was unable
to take the final restart due to a mechanical issue], but it was my
day today. For once, the luck was on my side and I have to
say it was about time!"
Piers Phillips (President,
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) On placing three cars in the top
six today: "Well, what a day. We definitely had some
challenges in qualifying, so to bring all three cars home fourth,
fifth and sixth is a credit to the team. I think it's a credit to
the guys that drove them [Graham
Rahal, Takuma Sato and
Santino Ferrucci], particularly in
the difficult conditions we had today. But now the focus is
on tomorrow [and the second race] and the goal is to finish
one-two-three rather than four-five-six."
Kelvin Fu (Program
Director, Honda Performance Development) on today's Honda win in
Detroit: "I guess you can say
'the red flag giveth, and the red flag taketh away'. First,
and most important, it appears that [Arrow McLaren SP driver]
Felix Rosenqvist escaped serious
injury in his massive crash. The first red flag [for the
Rosenqvist crash] effectively ended the victory chances for several
of our drivers, including Scott
Dixon and Alexander
Rossi. But the late race stoppage, and Will Power's subsequent mechanical problem,
opened the door for Marcus Ericsson
to score an overdue first victory, a great result for Marcus and
the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing team. It also is the first victory
for HPD's Nicole Rotondo, trackside
engineer for Marcus."
Fast Facts
- With Ericsson's win today, seven different drivers – from seven
different countries – have won the first seven races of 2021, tying
the post-war record for different INDYCAR SERIES winners to start a
season.
- In addition to Brazilian Helio
Castroneves' historic win last month at the Indianapolis 500, other Honda race winners
this year include current championship points leader, Spaniard Alex
Palou (Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama); defending and six-time champion
Scott Dixon (Texas Race 1) from
New Zealand; and American
Colton Herta (Firestone Grand Prix
of St. Petersburg).
- Honda continues to hold the mid-season lead in the 2021 INDYCAR
Manufacturers' Championship, with five victories in the first seven
races. Honda has a 20-point advantage (576-556) over rival
Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fourth consecutive NTT
INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers' Championship in 2021.
- Honda-powered drivers have now won six of the last seven Indy
car events run on the Belle Isle Park street circuit.
Next
NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing activities on Belle Isle Park continue
tomorrow with the second round of the doubleheader weekend.
Sunday's 70-lap closer starts at 12 p.m.
EDT with live television coverage again on NBC.
Honda Racing social media content and video links from
Detroit can be found on Instagram
(www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter
(twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and
long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube
channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
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SOURCE Honda Racing/HPD