A late burst helped Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson win the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, snapping a drought of 63 winless starts.
“It’s been long enough. But we’ve worked so hard,” Ericsson said during a post-race interview. “It doesn’t come as a surprise. We’ve had such a good year and getting stronger and stronger … every weekend. I really felt we deserved it. And we had to work for it.”
This was the first time that Markham, Ontario, hosted Canada’s lone IndyCar race. Toronto’s Exhibition Place had served as host since 1986.
Ericsson, who drives for Andretti Global, overtook Romain Grosjean with four laps remaining and led for 21 of the 90 laps en route to his fifth win on the circuit and first since St. Petersburg in 2023. He finished in 2:16:22, just ahead of Grosjean (2:16.29). Will Power, Ericsson’s teammate, finished third (2:16.32.79).
Alex Palou, the season’s points leader, was fourth (2:16.32.97). He leads the standings with 542 points. Kyle Kirkwood is second with 409. Kirkwood crashed out in Lap 53 on Sunday and finished 21st.
Pole-sitter Louis Foster led for 32 laps before crashing on Lap 43 trying to pass Ericsson.
“Just super annoying, because we actually had a shot to win today,” Foster told reporters outside of IndyCar’s medical unit. “We got completely screwed by the yellow and then drove our (butts) off to get up to (second) for half a second until we were in the wall. And we had pace on everyone.”
The series resumes next Sunday at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C.
–Field Level Media
