INDYCAR RACE REPORT: Sonsio Grand Prix
Race Results
| Sonsio Grand Prix |
| Will Power | P13 |
| Kyle Kirkwood | P9 |
| Marcus Ericsson | P22 |
Race Notes
- The Month of May officially got underway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today after rainy weather postponed yesterday’s qualifying, setting up a packed day of NTT INDYCAR SERIES action with both qualifying and the 85-lap Sonsio Grand Prix taking place on the same day.
- Kyle Kirkwood led the Andretti INDYCAR trio to green this afternoon after advancing to Round 2 of qualifying and earning a ninth-place starting position for today’s Sonsio Grand Prix. Marcus Ericsson and Will Power were unable to move past the opening round and started 14th and 25th, respectively.
- At the conclusion of the 85-lap event, Kirkwood took the checkered in ninth while Power crossed the line in 13th. Unfortunately, due to a mechanical issue, Ericsson was forced to retire from the race early, 24 laps down.
- The team will now shift focus to the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with Opening Day of Indy 500 practice on Tuesday, May 12, streaming live on FOX One, FS1 and FS2.
Will Power
No. 26 TWG AI Honda
P13
| Started | P25 |
| Standings | P14 (107 points) |
- Struggling to find speed in qualifying this morning, Will Power started from the back of the field, hoping to use his strong experience on the IMS Road Course to work his way up the field in today’s race.
- Despite a chaotic opening lap that shook up the field and ultimately brought out a Lap 1 yellow, Power was able to avoid the incident and any damage to the TWG AI Honda.
- Opting for an alternate, fuel-saving strategy, Power came to the pit lane under the race-opening yellow only four laps in for his first stop of the day before breaking into the top 10 by Lap 19 and the top three just three laps later.
- After an impressive fuel-saving performance by Power in his second stint, the team called Power in on Lap 58 for his final pit stop. The TWG AI crew had a clean stop, but while exiting the pits, Power had a misstep and was given a drive-through penalty for improper pit exit.
- Power finished the day just out of the top 10 in thirteenth.
“It was a bit of a gut-wrenching day, to be honest, because we were making that strategy work. We had a fuel error issue going on, so we pitted a lap earlier than we should have. But at the end of the day, if everything had gone the right way, we could have won that race. We’ll just have to regroup as a team and focus our energy forward to the 500.”
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 JM Bullion / Gold.com Honda
P4
| Started | P9 |
| Standings | P2 (210 points) |
- Kyle Kirkwood led Andretti’s qualifying efforts this morning as the only team car to make it to the second round. Unfortunately, traffic held up the JM Bullion / Gold.com Honda on what should have been Kirkwood’s fast lap, pushing him out of the Firestone Fast Six.
- Starting ninth in today’s 85-lap race, Kirkwood immediately jumped up to fourth just moments before the Lap 1 yellow flag came out. He continued his charge on the restart and was up to second by Lap 7.
- Over the next 30 laps, Kirkwood worked the JM Bullion / Honda into a solid position before coming in on Lap 39 for his second stop. However, a slow stop on pit lane dropped the No. 27 back to 18th.
- Kirkwood managed to recover and navigate his way strategically up the field, securing his second INDYCAR career top-10 finish on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
“I don’t really know what to say after today. We gave ourselves the opportunity to win the race, but got caught out by a couple of things. On to Indy.”
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 Allegra Honda
P25
| Started | P14 |
| Standings | P12 (112 points) |
- After a tough qualifying session this morning saw Marcus Ericsson fail to advance past the opening round of qualifying, the Swede started today’s race near the middle of the field.
- Ericsson managed to avoid the opening lap chaos in Turn 1 and was able to continue his charge forward through the field, breaking into the top 10 by Lap 31.
- With just over 20 laps to go, Ericsson’s day was cut short due to a mechanical issue.
“It was quite an exciting race. There were a lot of things happening. Obviously on the start we had to avoid the mess ahead of us, so we had to move to the back. We managed to not hit anything, so that was okay. From then on, we had really good pace. The Allegra Honda was really strong and I felt like I was driving well. The Allegra crew was great on pit lane and we were moving forward, fighting our way through the field into the top six going into the last stop. Then we just had that mechanical failure on the clutch that ended our day. It’s really painful to have two weekends in a row where we’re running for a top 10 or more and ending up with a DNF. The results don’t show the progress we’re making.”
Ron Ruzewski
INDYCAR Team Principal
“It clearly was not the day we wanted today for Andretti Global. Some little bad luck on the 27 car. He was running in a good spot and an untimely yellow caught them out. We were also in a good spot with the 26 car, really gambling on some strategy. Unfortunately, we had an issue getting out of the pits and got caught with a drive-through penalty. Overall, we just have to continue to charge forward into the Month of May, be better and try to execute next time.”
