Marcus Ericsson’s two victories in NTT IndyCar came on street courses in Detroit and Nashville in 2021, so he expects to do well at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
That so far has not happened for Ericsson, whose two races on the streets of Long Beach have resulted in finishes of 20th in 2019 and 28th in 2021, when Colton Herta crossed the finish line first.
Ericsson, 31, of Sweden, wants to do something about that at the 47th running of the race next Sunday. He completed just 25 of 85 laps at the 2021 race, having crashed into the tires on Turn 1.
“Yeah, that’s right,” said Ericsson, who toils for Chip Ganassi Racing. “I went out there in Turn 1 quite early and so I have some unfinished business for sure in Long Beach.”
He made his point perfectly clear.
“I’ve won my two races in IndyCar on street courses and had some good results in St. Pete as well; it’s another street course we go to,” he said, referencing the St. Petersburg, Florida event. “So I feel like in general, I’m quite strong in the street courses.
“But for some reason the two events at Long Beach that I’ve been part of haven’t really gone as well, so definitely feel really motivated and focused to try and sort of turn that around and have a strong weekend.”
Ericsson twice has finished as high as seventh at St. Pete. He was ninth this season there in the series opener. He said he was running fourth when he took a penalty for a pit lane incident that pushed him back to 25th before he drove his way back up to ninth.
That would indicate he knows what he’s doing on a street circuit, and he wants to show it in Long Beach.
“I think last year was going pretty well, I was running quite well in the race until I had that incident,” said Ericsson, who is in his fourth NTT IndyCar season. “So, definitely, it’s a challenging track, it’s a challenging lap to get sort of everything out of it, so it’s not an easy place.
“But I feel like this year in general, I’ve taken another step in my driving and the whole 8 car crew, we’re running at a higher level.”
Ericsson talked a lot about working hard during the offseason on improving on ovals. He saw it pay off during the second race of the season – the XPEL 375 in Texas. He was 19th there in 2021 but was on the podium this year with a third-place finish.
“That was really good proof that that work is paying off to get that podium in Texas, to see that the time and effort we put in during the offseason is actually making a difference,” he said.
He’s hopeful that dedication will pay bigger dividends down the road. He finished sixth in series points in 2021 with 435 and could have been higher had he been able to avoid a DNF at Long Beach.
“But sixth was still a good result last year and it was a strong season for me and felt like a bit of a breakthrough for me here in the States,” he said. “And going into this year, I’m building on that momentum that I got from last year.
“I’m working with the same core group of people in Chip Ganassi Racing. And I feel like this offseason we worked really hard to prepare ourselves to be able to fight for that (series) championship.”
Ericsson is fifth in points (58) this year after two races.
Ericcson said his five seasons racing in Formula One taught him how to deal with that kind of pressure. He also said having Chip Ganassi Racing teammates like Scott Dixon, defending series champion Alex Palou and NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson makes for a heck of a positive atmosphere.
“I think he’s maybe the best ever in IndyCar,” Ericsson said of Dixon, who has won six IndyCar series championships. “You could argue that, at least. And to be teammates with a guy like him has been helping me massively to improve and push myself to my best.”
Michaelian upbeat, as usual
Jim Michaelian and his crew in 2021 staged the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in late September – it was the season finale – instead of April because of the coronavirus pandemic, which was also responsible for the cancellation of the 2020 race.
He’s thrilled that the annual event is returning to its normal time slot.
“It’s great, it’s great,” said Michaelian, CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “This event has been traditionally springtime since 1976 (in its second running) and it’s great to be back. Spring break, people on holiday, kids are out of school and we go to the Grand Prix.
“Those things all have created an environment and atmosphere for this event for many years and we’re glad to be back in our April time date again in ’22.”
There is something else that has fired up Michaelian.
“We’re fortunate now because of the last ruling by California Department of Public Health that there won’t be any (coronavirus) protocols, any mandates here,” he said. “That’s very significant because now people can come, enjoy themselves.
“If they want to take some precautions, i.e., wear a mask or do something like that, that’s fine. But we won’t be requiring people to do that and I think that’s really important in terms of creating an atmosphere where people just come and are excited about enjoying a beautiful weekend in Long Beach.”
Praising his crew
Michaelian intimated he never had any qualms about whether he and his team would be able to pull off staging the 2021 and 2022 events just over six months apart.
“With the expertise that we have with our staff and their knowledge base, I had no hesitation at all about going back and putting this thing on in six months,” he said. “They are experts at what they do and you’ll see that reflected again here next weekend.”
Related links
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: Colton Herta wins race, Alex Palou the series title
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: Alex Palou on brink of realizing lifelong dream of major series title
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson loving his NTT IndyCar ride