Marc7s Ericsson has the fastest time as action halted for a track inspection. It has been a busy morning with 34 cars on track.
R C Emerson completed his rookie test thisorning.
The fast six as of 1 pm:
Ericsson Fastest After First Hour
Tag: Marcus Ericsson
Ericsson Stays With Ganassi in Multi Year Deal
From Chip Gnassi Racing:
Marcus Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Racing Continue INDYCAR Partnership in New, Multi-Year Deal
Posted: October 28, 2020 
Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) announced today that 30-year-old Swede Marcus Ericsson will continue in the No. 8 Honda in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as part of a new, multi-year deal with the team. Partnership details will be announced in the off-season in preparation for the 2021 INDYCAR season and beyond.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
• About Marcus Ericsson: Marcus Ericsson is coming off his first year with Chip Ganassi Racing, finishing 12th in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings. Prior to his rookie season in INDYCAR in 2019, the Kumla, Sweden native most recently completed his fifth year in Formula 1 in 2018 with a total of 97 starts. Ericsson is a two-time champion (Formula BMW UK, 2007; Japanese Formula Three, 2009), and has twice claimed the Swedish Junior Racer of the Year award (2007, 2009). Ericsson also previously competed in British Formula Three, GP2 Asia and GP2.
• 2020 Rewind: Ericsson started the season with an entry that didn’t exist the year before, and piloted the No. 8 Honda to a season-best fourth-place finish at Road America. His season-best qualifying result came in the first half of the Gateway doubleheader where he started fourth, and overall he scored nine top-10 finishes in the 14 races in his first year with the organization.
QUOTEBOARD:
• Marcus Ericsson, Driver, No. 8 Honda: “I’m very happy to continue my relationship with Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda and HPD into 2021 and beyond. I want to thank Chip and the whole CGR organization for their trust in me. Chip Ganassi Racing is one of the best teams in motorsports and I’m proud to be part of the team. The season we’ve just finished has been full of potential and I feel confident that with what we’ve learned together this year will help us succeed in 2021. I’m looking forward to getting back in the No. 8 Honda!”
• Mike Hull, Managing Director, Chip Ganassi Racing: “Marcus proved that he belongs here, and this season he contributed to the success of our team greatly. That includes being unselfish to his teammates, especially with Scott Dixon who won the INDYCAR championship. He’s a great foundational piece of our overall program and he fits well within our group. That translates into success on the track, and we’re glad to have him continue to grow and move the team toward into the future.” Share This Article:
Ericsson Lands Sponsor
From Indycar
Ericsson gets Swedish chocolate company as primary sponsor
By INDYCAR | Published: Jan 14, 2020
Marcus Ericsson’s new ride with Chip Ganassi Racing will be backed by a company from his home country of Sweden, the team confirmed Tuesday.
Huski Chocolate will be the primary sponsor of the No. 8 Honda and joins the team’s lineup of PNC Bank for Scott Dixon’s No. 9 car and NTT DATA for Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 10. Chip Ganassi’s team will have more than two full-time entries in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the first time since 2017. Dixon is a five-time series champion; Rosenqvist was last year’s INDYCAR Rookie of the Year.
Ericsson is a native of Kumla, Sweden, and he made his INDYCAR debut last year, finishing 17th in the standings. He finished second in the second of the Detroit Grand Prix races. He spent five years in Formula One before coming to INDYCAR.
Huski Chocolate’s headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden, and they currently maintain sports-related partnerships with McLaren in F1 as well as the Millwall Football Club of the English Football League Championship, the second tier of English football after the Premier League.
One-time INDYCAR driver and NASCAR veteran Stanton Barrett is CEO of Huski Chocolate Americas. Barrett competed in four INDYCAR races in 2009.
“This partnership is a great fit for our entire company,” Barrett said in a statement released by the team. “We have watched Marcus in Formula 1 and last year’s transition into INDYCAR. Marcus has great potential and now he can capitalize on his talents by teaming up with Chip Ganassi Racing in INDYCAR.
“This partnership with my friend Chip and CGR, a 12-time INDYCAR Champion team, is a critical and valuable platform to reach a strong racing fan base in North and South America. As Huski Chocolate continues expanding into important markets for our B2B and B2C products, CGR and Marcus will continue to pave the way for success on and off the track for Huski Chocolate. We can’t wait to get the season started in St. Petersburg with the Huski Chocolate Honda on the grid.”
INDYCAR’s 17-race schedule begins March 13-15 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The year’s first open test is set for Feb. 11-12 at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
Ericsson to Ganassi: Updated
News just broke that Marcus Ericsson will drive the number 8 car for Chip Ganassi racing in 2020. No sponsor was announced. Ericsson drove for Arrow Schmidt Peterson (now Arrow McLaren SP) this year. He finished 17th in the points standings with a best finish of second in Detroit Race 2. Ericsson had an up and down season with two top 10s. He missed the Portland race as he was on standby with Alfa Romeo in F1.
The announcement likely eliminates the possibility of Meyer shank racing with driver Jack Harvey forming an alliance with Ganassi. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing now appears to be where they will end up.
It was long suspected Ericsson would not return to AMSP. The question is will James Hinchcliffe return as announced earlier. This might be a spot for Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew.
I see the following seats open or unconfirmed:
Carlin (2)
Foyt (1) if Kanaan returns
Carpenter (road course in the 20). Pigot has not been confirmed for the 21.
Arrow McLaren SP (1) for now. Conor Dqaly was informed last week that the team is going “in another direction.”
Coyne (1). Ferrucci is scheduled to return but no formal confirmation yet.
Update:
Per Marshall Pruett, Ganassi is continuing to explore ways to add a fourth car for Askew. I applaud the team’s efforts to keep their Ford GT teams employed after that program ends this weekend.
Indycar Drivers’ European Vacations
Above: Pato O’Ward at Road America last week.
Indycar began a three week summer break after Road America last weekend. The Series returns to action in Toronto July 14. What do drivers do in their weeks off? They go to Europe. One may not return. It’s complicated, and we’ll discuss that last.
The week before the REV Group Grand Prix Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais went to Le Mans to participate in the 24 hour race for Chip Ganassi’s Ford GT teams. It was the last Le Mans for this car. Ford is shutting the GT program down. My hope is that they return in another class, preferably the prototypes.
This coming week (July already? Really/) Marcus Ericsson will participate in a Pirelli tire test in Austria on Tuesday. Ericsson is still a reserve driver for Alfa Romeo. When the Indycar season ends he will spend more time at the remaining F1 races.
O’Ward Fills in for Banned Driver; Japan Next?
Pato O’Ward’s weird itinerant season continues. This weekend he is driving for MP Motorsport in Formula 2 in Austria. O’Ward replaces Mahaveer Raganathan, who accumulated enough penalty points to earn a one race suspension. Jordan King is O’Ward’s teammate this weekend. O’Ward qualified 17th Friday, one second off the pole speed and just 0.25 seconds slower than the more experienced King. It was O’Ward’s first time in this type of car, first time at this track, and of course first time on this particular tire. Overall, he did a great job.
F2 runs two races this weekend, a race on Saturday which includes a pit stop, and a sprint race on Sunday.i am anxious to see how Pato does in the two events.
News from japan’s Super Formula that Dan Ticktum is losing his Red Bull backed ride has led to speculation that O’Ward will finish the season there. Nothing is confirmed. Ticktum has scored just 1 point this season. His teammmate has out performed him significantly.
Since O’Ward is under contract to Red Bull, he may complete his season there. That would be a big loss to Indycar, which thought they had a rising star. Considering Ticktum’s struggles, this may be a difficult situation for O’Ward. doesn’t work out, will there still be room for him back in Indycar? Let’s hope so.
I’ll be back next week with a look at another past Indianapolis 500 program.
Ericsson to Drive Car #7 for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports
From Schmidt Peterson Motorsports this morning:
Marcus Ericsson Joins SPM for 2019 Season
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Thoughts-
Ericsson joins Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Rossi, and Max Chilton,and Takuma Sato on the Indycar grid as drivers who have driven in F1.
Only the second Carlin seat remains open. R. C. Enerson was in the car yesterday at COTA.
While this is probably a decent move for SPM, it is another seat not going to a driver from the Road to Indy.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 