Romain Grosjean turned in his key to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – yes, he had his own key – packed his RV and drove to Detroit, the next step in his next American adventure.
First he rode his bike 10 laps down the historic speedway. After all, he had the whole house to himself.
The man who walked through the fire and lived to tell about it accepted his move from Formula 1 to IndyCar, where he won pole on his third career start with Dale Coyne Racing and then ran 44 laps on the Indianapolis street circuit, before he finished second.
The roar of recognition from the limited crowd last month was like nothing the Frenchman had heard before, not even after nine seasons and 10 podiums in F1.
“One of the best moments I’ve ever had was when I finished second and did the interview for the crowd and everyone stood up and cheered for me,” Grosjean told The Associated Press as he followed up with his RV on Tuesday Belle Isle drove this weekend’s double title.
“I was on the podium in Formula 1, but I’ve never seen so much energy and love from the stands,” he said. “Even my wife cried when she watched at home. She said, “Everything you’ve done in the past six months, people well know and love it.” It’s a hell of a trip and it’s a lovely trip. “
Haas F1 – and is now the newest driver to leave Europe to join IndyCar. Much like his IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion, Grosjean was only involved in road and street racing.
The story goes on
Then he and his family watched the Indianapolis 500 on television in Switzerland and, like Johnson, made a change of heart. Romain Grosjean told the AP he will make his IndyCar oval debut at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway outside of St. Louis in August and then make a decision with his family about the Indy 500 next year.
“The first step is weird, being home and not being there because you know your friends are,” said Grosjean. “So we’ll see what the situation is like and then what we imagine as far as the family is concerned. At first I said that I didn’t want to do ovals, now I would like to try one and see if I would like to do more. “
Conor Daly took Grosjean to dinner on Sunday night in Indianapolis and gave him the phone number of Doug Boles, President of IMS and Daly’s stepfather, presumably so that Grosjean could return the key to the title. The two talked about the Indy 500.
“The biggest thing I notice is that he hates to watch,” said Daly. “He says, ‘I can’t wait to get back in.’ He takes it as best he can, which is really, really cool … This is the first time I’ve given a driver the key to the circuit just to live there. “
Grosjean previously lived in a motor home that he took to his first three IndyCar races and parked in the IMS infield, which gave him access to all amenities including a free stretch for his Tuesday morning bike ride.
“It’s great, you have all the space you want, there is no traffic so you don’t have to worry about people hitting you and I just wanted to do it for the experience,” said Grosjean.
He’s going to drive the RV from Detroit to races on Road America in Wisconsin and then to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and his wife and three children will finally take him on a bus on July 4th for a month-long tour of America Accompany the USA. Then his kids will see their father at his first IndyCar event in Nashville in August.
Grosjean saved every hat he received for the podium photos for his second-place kids in Indianapolis to choose from.
“They were very happy with that, and they were really happy to see Daddy on the podium,” said Grosjean. “Although my two sons were born when I was on my last pedestal, one was 2 years old and one was three months old and they have no memory and call me every day and can’t wait to come.”
Grosjean said that the last time he had as much fun on the track was in 2013 as he is now. That’s partly because he didn’t drive competitive cars in Formula 1 and knew he’d never have a chance of winning races.
But his fall in Bahrain gave him a new perspective on life and his passion for racing has returned with a new series in a new country. He needs another skin graft on his left hand, which he is expected to do in October, and believes he will be cured in time to compete at the Rolex 24 in Daytona in January, with Grosjean now having the three IMSA endurance sports car races on his schedule want to record.
He’s been stopped 10 times in downtown Chicago by fans asking for selfies, he said, and he couldn’t be happier with his decision to switch to IndyCar.
“When you have a passion for something and it’s like a fire, and that fire may have been put down in the last few years, but when you get a pole and lead a race again it’s like ‘hell yeah’. “he said.” It’s hard to do, but when you do you want to do it again. “
Romain Grosjean adds an oval to his IndyCar schedule, enjoying “great moments” in the US originally posted on NBCSports.com
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