IndyCar Long Beach
Ericsson: Focus on qualifying improvements have paid off
Marcus Ericsson credited his personal improvements in one-lap pace on working with mental and driver coaches, after qualifying second in Long Beach.
David Malsher-Lopez
Published: Apr 15, 2023, 11:31 PM
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Ericsson qualified fourth and fastest Chip Ganassi Racing driver in St. Petersburg last month, and today claimed second – his best ever road/street course qualifying performance – for the 48th Grand Prix of Long Beach. Teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon were fourth and sixth.
The 2022 Indy 500 winner stated: “It was a really good session for us. I think a really good weekend. From the get-go we've been fast…
“Qualifying was a bit hectic with the red flags and stuff going on. Q2, we were on a really good lap, the red came out, we had to go for another set of tires to make sure we could transfer. Didn't have that sticker set [in the Fast Six], which would have been nice.
“Still it was a really good effort. Tied my best qualifying result in IndyCar, so I'm really happy about that. I worked really hard this winter to improve my qualifying performance. I've talked about it a lot, focused a lot on it, worked on it by myself and with my team. P4 in St. Pete and P2 here, that's progress.”
“Like I said, our weakness or my weakness has been qualifying in IndyCar so far. I think our form this year, fastest in Thermal [pre-season test], I think that shows we're making progress. All my IndyCar career has been about making progress, getting better and better, stronger and stronger. Now we're a better package, better driver this year again.
“I think everyone should look out because we're in it and we're going to fight it all the way through.”
Ericsson said he couldn’t explain why or how he had made his self-improvement.
“I cannot point at this or this reason is why I'm doing better,” he said. “The progress is about working hard and working on all aspects as a driver.
“I worked with a mental coach, I worked with my physical coach, I worked with my engineer and the rest of the Ganassi crew to get my car more to my liking, to understand the tires better.
It's a combination of all those things that makes a difference, I think. So it's hard to pinpoint something. I'm happy I'm doing it. I feel like I'm stronger and better than ever, so... I'm going to continue doing it…
“I'm really happy with that. Race day is our strength. We start on the front row, we should have a good shot at winning tomorrow.”
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