Ericsson avoids chaos to win Indycar opener

Jack Harvey was taken to a hospital for observation, and

Helio Castroneves needed an ice pack and X-rays. A pair of cars went airborne, the leaders crashed each other, and the entire Andretti Autosport fleet was eliminated.

Indianapolis 500 winner

Marcus Ericsson, meanwhile, won the season-opening Indycar Series race.

Ericsson outlasted the carnage on the streets of St. Petersburg for a surprise victory for Chip Ganassi Racing on Sunday in Florida. It was the fourth career Indycar victory for the Swedish former Formula One driver.

It was supposed to be an Andretti car in Victory Lane, at least based on the speed the team showed all weekend. Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta started on the front row, but things quickly began to unravel.

A seven-car crash on the very first lap knocked five drivers out of the race, including Andretti’s

Devlin Defrancesco. Castroneves limped away from the crash, and Meyer Shank Racing teammate Simon Pagenaud clutched his hand.

Castroneves ended up with an ice pack on his right hand and a clean X-ray of his right knee. Pagenaud said his finger was bruised but he was fine.

Harvey was transported to a hospital after Kyle Kirkwood became the second Andretti driver to go airborne and sailed directly over Harvey’s head.

Herta was sent into a tire barrier by contact from reigning Indycar champion Will Power to leave Grosjean as the last remaining chance for Andretti. But as Grosjean and Scott Mclaughlin raced for position, their cars touched, and both slammed into a tire barrier.

Ericsson, meanwhile, passed

Pato O’ward for the win with three laps remaining when O’ward briefly lost power. . . .

Max Verstappen won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir from the pole position, leading almost the entire race as he began the defense of his back-to-back Formula One titles.

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished 12 seconds behind him in second spot, while 41-yearold Fernando Alonso took third place — and claimed a 99th career podium — in his debut for Aston Martin.

PRO FOOTBALL

Jordan Ta’amu passed for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for 22 yards and another score as the D.C. Defenders defeated the St. Louis Battlehawks, 34-28, at Audi Field to take over sole possession of first place in the XFL’S North Division.

D’eriq King also passed for a touchdown and Michael Joseph returned an interception 41 yards for a score for the Defenders, who improved to 3-0.

AJ Mccarron passed for 262 yards and four touchdowns for the Battlehawks (2-1), but he was picked off twice and sacked four times. A scuffle broke out after the final sack. . . .

Former Texas A&M running back Devon Achane was the fastest man in the final on-field workout session of the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. Achane ran a 4.32-second 40-yard dash.

WINTER SPORTS

Mikaela Shiffrin finished seventh at a World Cup super- G affected by changing weather in Kvitfjell, Norway, missing out on an 86th career victory that would have tied her with Ingemar Stenmark for the record among men and women.

Nina Ortlieb led an Austrian sweep of the podium ahead of

Stephanie Venier, who started 29th, and Franziska Gritsch, who started 26th. . . .

Marco Odermatt of Switzerland wrapped up another World Cup super- G title by winning the race in Aspen, Colo.

The 25-year-old finished in 1 minute 6.80 seconds to hold off Andreas Sander of Germany by 0.05 seconds.

COLLEGE LACROSSE

The fifth-ranked Maryland women’s team was unable to complete a rally from a four-goal deficit in falling to No. 9 Denver, 8-7, at SECU Stadium.

Kori Edmondson scored three goals for the Terrapins (3-3).

Julia Gilbert (Bullis) had a hat trick for the Pioneers (6-0). . . .

Jaime Biskup scored four goals as No. 10 Virginia defeated Elon, 18-12, in Charlottesville.

Mackenzie Hoeg and Kate Miller each added three goals for the Cavaliers (6-0).

Catherine Merritt scored five for the Phoenix (3-3).

TENNIS

Marta Kostyuk earned her first career WTA title at the age of 20 by defeating Varvara Gracheva, 6-3, 7-5, in the ATX Open final in Austin, then dedicated the victory to her home country of Ukraine.

The eighth-seeded Kostyuk and the unseeded Gracheva, a 22-year-old Russian, did not meet at the net for the traditional postmatch handshake; Kostyuk has said she will not do so after facing players from Russia, which invaded Ukraine, or Belarus, which aided the attack. . . .

Home crowd favorite Nicolas Jarry beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, to clinch the Chile Open final in Santiago. . . .

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic withdrew from the upcoming event in Indian Wells, Calif., having lost his bid to enter the United States unvaccinated.

RUNNING

Deso Gelmisa led an Ethiopian clean sweep of the podium at the Tokyo Marathon, with Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s race.

In a tight finish, the 25-yearold Gelmisa finished in 2:05:22 to win his first world marathon major by one second ahead of compatriot Mohamed Esa. Tsegaya Getachew finished third, two seconds further back.