(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda) dodged multiple incidents in a chaotic season-opening race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Sunday in a day overflowing with drama. Ericsson - the 2022 Indy 500 winner from Sweden - earned his fourth career series victory by 2.4113 seconds over runner-up Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Ericsson, who started fourth, took the lead when O’Ward slowed suddenly exiting Turn 14 on Lap 97 of the 100-lap race when his engine shut off momentarily due to a brief fire in the plenum chamber of his Chevy engine. “I feel bad for Pato for having the issue, but that’s racing,” Ericsson said. "You need to get there to the finish line. We were having such a good weekend. The car was fantastic all the way through. We were hunting him down, putting the pressure on, and that’s when things happen. It was a hell of a start to the season.” There were so many crashes and incidents in this race, it's best to just watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media for the info)
Marcus Ericsson (No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda) dodged multiple incidents in a chaotic season-opening race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Sunday in a day overflowing with drama. Ericsson - the 2022 Indy 500 winner from Sweden - earned his fourth career series victory by 2.4113 seconds over runner-up Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Ericsson, who started fourth, took the lead when O’Ward slowed suddenly exiting Turn 14 on Lap 97 of the 100-lap race when his engine shut off momentarily due to a brief fire in the plenum chamber of his Chevy engine. “I feel bad for Pato for having the issue, but that’s racing,” Ericsson said. "You need to get there to the finish line. We were having such a good weekend. The car was fantastic all the way through. We were hunting him down, putting the pressure on, and that’s when things happen. It was a hell of a start to the season.” There were so many crashes and incidents in this race, it's best to just watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media for the info)
(Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment)
Pato O’Ward was leading the race with three laps to go when he encountered a brief engine issue in the No. 5 McLaren Arrow Chevrolet, causing it to lose power. He salvaged a disappointing second in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Pato O’Ward was leading the race with three laps to go when he encountered a brief engine issue in the No. 5 McLaren Arrow Chevrolet, causing it to lose power. He salvaged a disappointing second in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon finished third in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda, suggesting he may be ready for a strong run to the 2023 INDYCAR championship.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon finished third in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda, suggesting he may be ready for a strong run to the 2023 INDYCAR championship.
(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Danial Frost (No. 68 HMD Motorsports with DCR) took the lead on a late restart and powered away to win the season-opening INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, earning his second career victory in INDYCAR’s development series. Frost, from Singapore, crossed the finish line 1.8038 seconds ahead of teammate and rookie Nolan Siegel in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR machine. Jacob Abel finished third in the No. 51 Abel Motorsports car. “I couldn’t believe it at the end,” Frost said. “I was still driving until the checkered, and as soon as we passed the checkered, I was like, ‘OK, we won!’ So, it feels amazing.”
Danial Frost (No. 68 HMD Motorsports with DCR) took the lead on a late restart and powered away to win the season-opening INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, earning his second career victory in INDYCAR’s development series. Frost, from Singapore, crossed the finish line 1.8038 seconds ahead of teammate and rookie Nolan Siegel in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR machine. Jacob Abel finished third in the No. 51 Abel Motorsports car. “I couldn’t believe it at the end,” Frost said. “I was still driving until the checkered, and as soon as we passed the checkered, I was like, ‘OK, we won!’ So, it feels amazing.”
(Formula1.com)
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) enjoyed a perfect start to the season in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix as he cruised to victory over team mate Sergio Perez (No. 11 Oracle Red Bull Racing) – while Fernando Alonso (No. 14 Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team) finished third as Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) retired from the race. Everyone but hard-shod Kevin Magnussen (No. 20 MoneyGram Haas F1 Team) began the race on soft tires, and Verstappen had a strong start, but teammate Perez fell back and lost second place to Leclerc – while Carlos Sainz couldn’t quite take P3 ftom the Red Bull. The reigning champion stretched his legs in the lead and eventually won by more than 10 seconds. Perez completed the one-two with both Red Bull drivers on similar soft-soft-hard strategies. Aston Martin’s hopes of crashing the podium fight seemed to have come crashing down on Lap 1 when Lance Stroll (No. 18 Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team) made a lunge on teammate Alonso into Turn 4 and hit the right-rear of his car, allowing both Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team) and George Russell (No. 63 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team) ahead. Ferrari’s hopes of the podium came crashing down on Lap 41, when Leclerc retired with an engine issue. That was just after Alonso produced an absolutely brilliant move to take P5 off Hamilton, down the inside of Turn 10. Alonso went on the warpath and on Lap 45 he passed Sainz after a stunning battle through Sector 2 to seal his first podium since Qatar 2021. Watch the video highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) enjoyed a perfect start to the season in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix as he cruised to victory over team mate Sergio Perez (No. 11 Oracle Red Bull Racing) – while Fernando Alonso (No. 14 Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team) finished third as Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) retired from the race. Everyone but hard-shod Kevin Magnussen (No. 20 MoneyGram Haas F1 Team) began the race on soft tires, and Verstappen had a strong start, but teammate Perez fell back and lost second place to Leclerc – while Carlos Sainz couldn’t quite take P3 ftom the Red Bull. The reigning champion stretched his legs in the lead and eventually won by more than 10 seconds. Perez completed the one-two with both Red Bull drivers on similar soft-soft-hard strategies. Aston Martin’s hopes of crashing the podium fight seemed to have come crashing down on Lap 1 when Lance Stroll (No. 18 Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team) made a lunge on teammate Alonso into Turn 4 and hit the right-rear of his car, allowing both Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team) and George Russell (No. 63 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team) ahead. Ferrari’s hopes of the podium came crashing down on Lap 41, when Leclerc retired with an engine issue. That was just after Alonso produced an absolutely brilliant move to take P5 off Hamilton, down the inside of Turn 10. Alonso went on the warpath and on Lap 45 he passed Sainz after a stunning battle through Sector 2 to seal his first podium since Qatar 2021. Watch the video highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)Quick work by his pit crew enabled William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) to beat teammate Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) off pit road for an overtime restart in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and that was the decisive factor in Byron’s fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory. When Aric Almirola (No. 10 Ford) spun into the Turn 4 wall with four laps left of a scheduled 267, the race turned upside down. At that point, Larson held a two-second lead and appeared the almost certain winner. After NASCAR called the fourth and final caution, Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Toyota) stayed on the track, with Byron, Larson and most of the other contenders pitting for two tires. Byron’s crew was a fraction of a second faster on the stop, and Byron claimed a front-row starting spot for the overtime to Truex’s outside. On the first overtime lap, Byron surged past Truex as the cars entered Turn 3 at the 1.5-mile track and pulled away to win by 0.622 seconds over Larson and 0.766 seconds over teammate Alex Bowman (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports). It was the third time Hendrick Motorsports delivered a 1-2-3 sweep in a Cup Series event. The drivers accomplished the feat with their fourth driver, Chase Elliott, watching from North Carolina with team owner Rick Hendrick. Elliott broke his left tibia in a snowboarding accident in Colorado on Friday and will miss multiple races as he recovers from surgery. Watch the race highlights here.
From the IMSA press release, Wednesday, March 8, 2023:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After the completion of post-race technical inspection and both provisional and official results were released for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA became aware of the potential manipulation of tire pressure data from the No. 60 car to IMSA as the monitoring point for the minimum tire pressure regulation. Following a thorough investigation of all cars in the class, IMSA officials today announced that the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing GTP team has been penalized for a violation of the following 2023 IMSA Sporting Regulation & SSR:
ATT 3.6.6.E. Failure to adhere to the Operational Requirements is prohibited and may result in the following Minimum Penalties:
i. First violation: Warning/Reprimand (not guaranteed, depending on timing/severity of violation; for penalties, paragraph vi. below shall apply).
ii. Second violation: Drive-Through.
iii. Third violation: Stop plus ten (10) seconds.
iv. Any violations may be penalized to the full extent listed in Art. 57.
v. A Penalty assessed during or after qualifying may result in qualifying times disallowed.
vi. An un-served Race Penalty or a Penalty assessed after the Race is added to the Car’s Race finishing time and may include a lap count penalty.
Summary - Per Attachment 3.6.6.D, intentional application of software offsets within the pressures being reported by the tire pressure monitoring system and associated Car telemetry system is prohibited and may be subject to penalty.
Penalties are as follows:
- Loss of 200 team and driver IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship points.
- Loss of all team and driver IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points.
- Loss of race prize money.
- Team receives a $50,000 fine.
- Team and Entrant representative Mike Shank placed on probation through June 30, 2023.
- Revocation of IMSA annual credential and indefinite suspension of IMSA membership for team engineer Ryan McCarthy.
Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG