Ericsson: Race wins races 'achievable' in 2019
- Published on 22 Jan 2019 17:08
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- By: Fergal Walsh
IndyCar rookie Marcus Ericsson says that winning races is his goal for the 2019 season. After being ousted as a full-time driver at Alfa Romeo Sauber in Formula 1, the Swede signed a deal with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
The team has won five races since 2013, including one last year, when Ericsson's current teammate James Hinchcliffe took the chequered flag at the Iowa Corn 300 in July.
Ericsson struggled throughout his five years in F1, having to deal with backmarker cars for most of his stay. But the 29-year-old wants to get back to winning ways this year, and believes that he can do so while admitting that it will be tough.
"Winning a race is the goal for sure; it has to be," said Ericsson. "I have huge respect for the top guys in this series who have been here a long time, and have experience racing on these types of tracks in this type of car.
"So I know it will be a big challenge for me. But I have a great team behind me and with [title sponsor] Arrow stepping up their involvement, that will help the team make another step, so I really feel we have that possibility to win.
"You always have to aim high in order to achieve something and I've set that personal goal - to win a race this year and fight as much as I can up front. It's a tough target but it's achievable."
Ericsson will partner experienced Hinchcliffe at the team, while a seat will be left open for Robert Wickens, who is currently recovering after a major crash at Pocono last year. Speaking about Hinchcliffe, Ericsson believes the two will work well together.
"It was a very positive surprise that we both give feedback that's similar and what we want from the car is very similar. It's always something you wonder about before you're teammates, because it's always a big help to the drivers and the team in general if you're pushing in the same direction.
"That's going to be great as we go forward into the season because practice sessions are so short. We can try different things and if James finds something that works for him, I know it will probably work for me and the same the other way round. That will speed up the process of creating good setups."
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Somehow I kinda doubt it. Would Marcus Ericsson, a nice bloke and all but hardly a great driver, go head to head with at least equally skilled and more experienced of the series drivers and win? Might be possible, but I find it highly unlikely.
Kean
Posts: 692
I can see why you feel that way, but I really hope he succeeds in Indy. I hope he gets a pole, and a win this season. After years of struggling in crappy cars, only to be axed when the team gets better, I feel bad for him. He deserves a win or two. Saying that I hope Felix gets two wins if ME gets one, and three wins if ME gets two...
Mr N71
Posts: 31
I believe Ericsson are faster than a most people think. Otherwise all those swedish sponsors wouldn't have put their money on him. They would have put it on someone else in stead. Against LEC in Sauber he didn't have the same car and wasn't aloud to take points. We know that for a fact. We also know that Ericsson was faster than Hinchcliffe on the test day when they drove the same tires and set up. And Hinchcliffe did take one win in 2018. (in a car comparing to red bull if Chip Ganassi are Mercedes as an F1 comparison) Comparing Ericsson to Rosenquist who has a lot of American racing experience and are 2019 driving for the best team in the league Chip Ganassi I would say Rosenquist has the upper hand between those two at the beginning of the season. But in the end of the day i strongly believe Ericsson would come up on top at the end of the season between those two.