Seven years in karting is unusually long for a driver like Marcus Ericsson, who had shown tremendous potential as a nine-year-old. This is partly because the Swede had no inclination of becoming a motor racing driver. Besides, his parents didn’t have the kind of money to help their son pursue a career in racing. So, it wasn’t until the Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League champion, Kenny Brack, stepped in that Ericsson’s racing career really took off.
Brack was stumped the very first time he saw Ericsson at a race in Goteborg (“He has a style similar to that of Alain Prost,” Brack would say of the young Swede). He promptly helped Ericsson earn a drive in the BMW UK Championship in 2007 and Ericsson more than proved himself, winning the title by a fabulous margin of 40 points from the Czech challenger, Josef Kral.
Ericsson then moved on to other series in Europe and also drove the F3 Championships and the GP2 Asia Series with moderate success. However, his talent was never in doubt. Ericsson’s resurgent run towards the end of the 2012 GP2 reverberated around the circuit as he reeled out a succession of points finishes, including two podiums, to take the eighth place.
Ericsson joins Kamui Kobayashi of Japan at Caterham.
FACTFILEName: Marcus EricssonDate of birth: September 2, 1990Place of birth: Kumla, SwedenTeam: CaterhamMajor performances:2007: Formula BMW UK — champion2009: Japanese Formula Three — champion2011: GP2 Final — secondG. Raghunath
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