Marcus Ericsson claimed his first IndyCar victory in a twice red-flagged opening race at Detroit, as long-time leader Will Power was cruelly denied his first win of the year.
It was a race in three parts as a pair of red flags brought pauses to Race 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, and when it was over, Team Penske’s Will Power was heartbroken, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson was jubilant after scoring his first NTT IndyCar Series win, and the paddock was keeping good thoughts for Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist.
Marcus Ericsson
The only boring part of the 70-lap race took place on the last three laps as Ericsson took the green flag from the lead and crossed the finish line in the No. 8 Honda over Rinus VeeKay in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy (1.7290s) and polesitter Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP in the No. 5 Chevy (+1.9105s). The drama is what came before the final red flag as Power led 37 laps and appeared to have Team Penske’s first win of 2021 in hand. That was until a solo crash by Romain Grosjean with five laps left to go turned the race on its head.
By calling for the red flag, IndyCar wanted to ensure the race finished under green conditions, and for all but Power, the decision worked to perfection until his No. 12 Chevy refused to fire at the front of the field. Given ample time to make multiple attempts to get the engine running, IndyCar officials ordered Ericsson—in P2—and the rest of the drivers to pull around Power and follow the pace car.
With the No. 12 wheeled back to its pit box, the Penske crew worked swiftly to replace the ECU, but three laps were lost as Power returned to the circuit and finished an unrepresentative P20 as Ericsson made use of an almighty gift.
“I’ve been here now for three years, and there’s been a lot of bad luck,” said the ex-Formula 1 driver who became IndyCar’s seventh different winner in as many races this season. “Today was my day. I feel bad for Will. Still, I’ll take it. I’m so happy. It’s 10 years since I won a race. I came over here with that fire to win again. To get to victory lane means a lot.”
Ericsson also added another piece of history to the mix by earning the first win for the GCR IndyCar team in the No. 8 since Michael Andretti drove the No. 8 Reynard-Ford/Cosworth to victory at the Toronto CART race in 1994.
For VeeKay, it was another statement-making drive for ECR to follow his May win at the Indy Grand Prix.
“Very happy,” VeeKay said. “It’s an awesome track. I like street courses, being a little crazy. Very good result; very good for the points.”
Where Grosjean was able to easily climb from the No. 51 Honda in his crash, the same could not be said for Felix Rosenqvist. On Lap 25, the Swede suffered a hellacious crash at Turn 6 when his No. 7 AMSP Chevy went to full throttle—for reasons unknown, at this point—and slammed into the wall to hard, it knocked over the 7000-pound concrete barrier sections struck by the front of his Dallara DW12 chassis.
After circulating behind the pace car for a few laps, the field was sent to pit lane and the first red flag was flown on Lap 28 to give the AMR Safety Team ample space to removed Rosenqvist from the car and for the track workers to begin extensive repairs to the Turn 6 barriers and fencing. Perched atop the tires, the safety team mounted the No. 7 car and slowly extricated Rosenqvist, who was in pain, but not seriously injured, according to IndyCar.
REPLAY: @josefnewgarden having tire issues early at @detroitgp.
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 12, 2021
📺: @NBC
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The heavy impact forced the race to be stopped with a red flag while Rosenqvist was removed from his car and the concrete barrier and tire wall were rebuilt.
Racing resumed after a red-flag delay of one hour, 18 minutes. Dixon and Hinchcliffe had to make their first pit stops for fuel immediately, and many drivers who pitted early to switch to primary tires also dove into the pits under yellow for fuel and tires.
That reshuffling placed Power, Ericsson, and Sato, into the top three on the restart on Lap 30 after the red flag. VeeKay quickly passed Sato for third and joined Power and Ericsson in a three-way joust for the lead by Lap 36.
It was a tough day for the top two drivers in the standings entering this race, Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Palou and Dixon. Palou finished 15th after starting last in the 25-car field in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda, while Dixon ended up eighth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda.
Palou led Dixon by 36 points entering this event, but that lead was sliced to just 15 over O’Ward, who leaped over Dixon into second. Palou has 263 points, O’Ward 248 and Dixon 237. VeeKay is fourth with 231.
-by Amaan Attar
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