Ericsson OK after heavy crash at Indy 500 practice

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson became the second driver to crash during practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Thursday as the Swede spun after diving below the white line in Turn 4 and losing the control of Honda No. 28.

It was a mirror image of his fellow Swede’s crash just hours before at the opposite end of the 2.5-mile oval at Turn 2, where Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist – Ericsson’s replacement in the Honda #8 – placed his left front tire below the white line and was tipped into a spin that hit the wall.

The damage to Lundqvist’s car was minor compared to that of Ericsson, who smashed the SAFER barrier with the left side of his car, then slid nose-first into the inside wall, then slid and hit the The attenuator placed in front of the wall separating the pit lane from the right front. Ericsson stopped on pit lane, got out of the battered car, was taken to the on-field care center and allowed to continue driving when his Andretti team was able to assemble a car ready for Friday.

“I brushed the curb a little bit and that’s probably enough to send it and then you’re a passenger,” Ericsson said. “Very disappointed. I’m really sorry for my team; they did a good job and they have a lot of work to do. This is probably the worst thing.