Marcus Ericsson Excited to Reunite With Brother at Indy

Marcus Ericsson said he’s excited to reunite behind the wheel with his younger brother and one of Random Vandals Racing’s full-season drivers, Hampus Ericsson, for only the second time in Saturday’s Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour.

Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner with Chip Ganassi Racing, has joined the lineup of the No. 99 BMW M4 GT3 EVO alongside Hampus’ GT World Challenge America powered by AWS regular co-driver Derek DeBoer in the Pro-Am class entry.

It comes less than a year after the brothers shared a Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in the Michelin 12H Malaysia at Sepang International Circuit where they finished ninth overall.

However, Ericsson explained getting to share the car with Hampus for the eight-hour GTWC America and Intercontinental GT Challenge season finale has been a special experience for him to add to his Indy resume.

“It’s super cool,” he told Sportscar365. “I’m very thankful for Random Vandals, Paul [Sparta, team owner], and everyone that made this possible.

“I shared the car with him last winter in Malaysia for the 12 hours there, and that was a dream come true for sure.

“But then you must be able to do it here on one of the biggest races in endurance racing in the eight hours is super cool.

“I’m just excited to be here, hang out with my brother and learn from him because he’s driven this car all year. We’re having a good time.”

The return to GT racing for Ericsson this weekend marks his first start in a BMW in his racing career.

After initial on-track sessions saw Hampus keep their Random Vandals efforts up towards the top of the charts, Marcus feels he’s gotten up to speed with the Bavarian manufacturer’s GT3 offering.

“The car is feeling really good,” he said. “I think the Random Vandals guys and girls have done a good job.

“He’s (Hampus) rolling off strong. I felt like I got it yesterday. I was getting up to speed, but Hampus was straight away up there in the timing sheets.

“It’s obviously a big learning curve. I have never driven a BMW and very few times have driven a GT3 car.

“I did a couple of times last year or last winter, so I’m still learning a lot, but so far, it’s been good. I know the track very well, but everything else is new.”

Ericsson’s primary commitments remain linked to IndyCar, but the Andretti Global driver believes it’s important to continue to push his boundaries and run in other disciplines of motorsports such as sports car racing.

“I feel like as an IndyCar driver; it’s still so much you can learn from driving different types of cars,” said Ericsson.

“I think that’s something I’ve really tried to focus on the last few years to try and put myself in a bit uncomfortable situations where I’m don’t really know what I’m doing and had to sort of learn on the fly.

“I think that’s really helped me also become a better IndyCar driver.”

Ericsson’s most recent experience in production-based GT machinery came in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Lamborghini Huracan in GTD.

While WTR has yet to announce its 2027 IMSA GT plans, despite being in the mix to potentially run a new Temerario GT3, Ericsson said he plans to remain in the GT paddock, eyeing a return to Daytona in 2027.

“It’s definitely on my list of trying to do Daytona again,” he said. “I’ve done it three times in two different categories, so I would love to do it again.

“I actually really enjoyed driving the GTD [car] this year. I thought it was really fun.

“The GT racing is just quite different to the hybrid car I’ve driven before. I actually really enjoyed that part of Daytona, being out there fighting with a bunch of GT cars. That was a lot of fun.

“With that said, I would love to get into any car, really, for Daytona. I think that’s perfect preparation for IndyCar and, obviously, one of the biggest races in the world. [It’s] definitely something I would like to do.

“My dream would be to do it together with my brother. But we’ll see what we can do here in the next few months.”