Marcus Ericsson missed out on victory in the classic Indy 500 by just a few hundredths.
Now the Swede is clearly criticizing the decision that cost him SEK 27 million.
– I think it was unfair and dangerous, he says to Viaplay.
It was a very disappointing Marcus Ericsson after the night’s great drama in the classic Indy 500. The Swede who won the race last year had the chance to write history in front of 300,000 spectators in Indianapolis.
Ericsson’s miss
Ericsson could become the first in over 20 years to win the Indy 500 two years in a row, leading the race right down to the last shaky lap. But then the inevitable happened in the highly dramatic race last night.
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With only a single lap remaining, the cars were forced into the pits for a red flag restart. Then Ericsson did not manage to maintain the lead all the way to the finish line, but was passed with only two corners left of the 200 laps and lost by a few measly hundredths.
– No, you really want to be second when you go out on the last lap, said the winner Joseph Newgarden to Viaplay after the victory run.
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Swedish criticism
The Swedish runner Marcus Ericsson was really annoyed after the second place and directed harsh criticism at the competition management.
– I think it was an unfair and dangerous ending to this race. I don’t think there were enough laps left to do what we did, he tells Viaplay.
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The reason for the anger was that the restart directly led to a closing sprint lap without first having a warm-up lap first.
– We have never restarted from the pit and we do not get the tires at the right temperature, says a clearly disappointed Ericsson to the TV channel and shakes his head in frustration.
– I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I made a great restart, kept the lead and surprised Josef (Newgarden). I had the lead in turn one, but I couldn’t hold it on the backstretch even with full throttle. A big congratulations to Josef, he is a worthy champion but I am disappointed with the way this ended. I don’t think it’s pretty.
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SEK 27 million
The bitter loss also means that Marcus Ericsson loses a lot of money. Last year, the Swede was awarded just over SEK 33 million, while the runner-up received almost SEK 11 million, and this year the prize pool is said to be larger thanks to an increased number of lightning injuries, but no figures on the prize money have yet been published.
In addition, Ericsson would be rewarded with an additional SEK 4.5 million in bonus for winning two years in a row. This means that the 32-year-old likely lost at least SEK 27 million in pure prize money.
– It is as it is, the situation is as it is. I think I did the right thing in the restart, but it wasn’t enough today, says Marcus in the interview.
– This is really hard to swallow.
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