Marcus Ericsson wins the 2022 Indy 500 award.
In Formula 1, Marcus Ericsson was never close to victory.
He has now achieved one of the biggest racing victories – a victory that places him in the history of Swedish sport.
After finishing sixth in the IndyCar Championship last year, Marcus Ericsson has decided to give more for this year’s season. He realized he needed to focus more on being successful in the ovals. He spent hour after hour learning the challenging art of fasting on an oval.
Already during the season’s first oval race in Texas, he finished third and it was clear that his training had paid off. As May neared, he was clear about what was going on. A victory in the 106th edition of the Indy 500, the biggest in American racing which is also a great opportunity to lay the foundation for winning the championship.
The Indy 500 victory does not make the driver just a legend.
It also gives double points that can lead to winning the tournament.
Marcus Ericsson wins the 2022 Indy 500 award
Once Ericsson got into Indianapolis, I continued to build speed on the famous oval Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He did good qualifying and also did a very good race. He has mastered speed, traffic, tricky stops in warehouses, and strategy perfectly. Komla’s Marcus Ericsson was stuck at the top of the nearly 800km race, giving him a perfect starting position when the competition was due to be decided.
It was there the whole time. Without making any significant difference and without losing focus. Although he fell a bit on the field after a slightly worse final hiatus, he came back, ahead. Even the fact that teammate Jimmy Johnson kissed the wall and was forced to raise a red flag couldn’t make him lose focus.
Swedish sports history
After the start of the second half, he was chased away by Pat Oward of McLaren who was just waiting to get the right slope, but Ericsson walked away and won the title of “Greatest Scene of the Race”.
And that’s exactly what a huge spectacle is with half a million people in their places and throngs of fans in front of the TV. Ericsson got his ring, drank that traditional milk and sat in a perfect position and that doesn’t just apply to the rest of the season. He has now created good opportunities for a long and successful career within IndyCar, as he has written himself in Swedish sports history.
It took me seventeen years so big that it should be one of the nominees for the best awards in Swedish sport, Bragdguld, Jerringpris and Sports Achievement of the Year.
The Winter Olympics in all their glory, but they are of a completely different caliber.
Now Marcus Ericsson is one of the largest. I treat her with all my heart.
•••
Felix Rosenqvist took fourth place. four! This means that there were two Swedish drivers in the top four in the race, which, along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco GP in Formula 1, is the biggest in racing.
This is incredibly good.
Incidentally, Ferrari filed a protest against Red Bull after the Monaco award. This is the Sunday where everything seems to happen. In other words, a normal Mother’s Day.