BWith a ready grin, Marcus Ericsson took the milk that was handed to him, took a strong sip – and tipped the rest over his head. The 31-year-old Swede surprisingly won the Indy 500, the legendary Indianapolis 500, for the first time late on Sunday evening. Second was Patricio O’Ward of Mexico, third was former Indy winner Tony Kanaan of Brazil.
“I can’t believe it,” laughed Ericsson in the TV interview, showered with milk as befits an Indianapolis winner. He won the dramatic finale on the legendary oval. Only a few laps before the end, the ex-Formula 1 driver took the lead, but quickly pulled away and looked like the sure winner.
But an accident caused the race to be interrupted four laps before the end. Ericsson’s advantage was gone, all drivers had to wait in the pit lane until the wreckage of Jimmie Johnson, who remained uninjured, was recovered and the track cleared of debris.
The race was then restarted for two final laps. Leading Ericsson zigzagged down the long straights to make it difficult for lurking Patricio O’Ward to attack from the slipstream and defended successfully. The Ganassi Honda driver finally won after 200 laps with a lead of 1.7 seconds.
New Zealander Scott Dixon started the race as the big favourite. However, a late penalty for speeding in the pit lane robbed him of all chances. Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, who started in Indy for the first time, retired after an accident.
