A few weeks ago, Marcus Ericsson was in the overall lead in the fight for the Indycar championship. Now the Swede has slipped down to fourth place after finishing no better than seventh in tonight’s, Swedish time, race in Madison, near St Louis.
Instead, it was American Josef Newgarden who was sharpest in the rain and won ahead of rookie David Malukas. The victory means that Newgarden climbs to second place in the overall standings.
For Ericsson, it was more difficult. Despite starting second, the 31-year-old was never close to victory, but instead had to see himself overtaken after a somewhat dubious pit strategy from the Swede’s stable.
Ericsson finished as the seventh car and with that he loses in the overall championship. Eriksson is now fourth in the standings, three points behind third-placed Scott Dixon, 14 behind freshman Newgarden and 17 points behind leader Will Power.
The race’s second Swede, Felix Rosenqvist, was responsible for fine driving. After starting 26th, last in the field, the 30-year-old worked his way up to 16th. Rosenqvist is eighth in the overall standings.
Two races remain to be run. On September 4, there will be travel in Portland and on September 11, the season will end with the Monterey grand prix.