This weekend, NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Romain Grosjean will mark a major item off his racing bucket list: competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He'll also mark his first start at IMS from the pole for the GMR Grand Prix after stunning the field Friday afternoon with the NTT P1 Award.
Grosjean, a veteran of 10 Formula One seasons, has never competed at the Racing Capital of the World. He started his F1 career on a part-time basis in 2009, and the last United States Grand Prix at IMS happened in 2007.
For a driver that has competed on some of the most historic racetracks in the world, just visiting the famed Speedway in the offseason for his preseason medical check was an experience he hasn’t forgotten.
“Just coming to the Speedway, arriving and going under the tunnel, you’ve got a special atmosphere, and then you’re here, and it’s big,” he said. “It’s really big, very impressive.”
On Thursday, Grosjean took part in a track walk around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course in preparation for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix (2 p.m. ET, LIVE on NBC). Afterward, he tweeted how momentous even that was for him.
“Track walk done at IMS,” the tweet read. “I’ve been to many circuits around the world, but this one stands with the very special ones.”
Grosjean got to work quickly Friday morning during the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice. The driver of the No. 51 NURTEC ODT Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR posted the fifth-quickest time in the opening practice session with a time of 1 minute, 10.1587 seconds. He was even quicker in the second practice at 1:09.6214, good for seventh. Then he made news around the motorsports world with his first career INDYCAR pole in just his third start, with a top lap of 1:09.4396.
Heading into the race weekend, Grosjean felt optimistic about competing on the IMS road course. The track has a “European” layout with a smooth surface and flat curbing all the way around the course. Additionally, it features two long straightaways that are typical of European courses.
Compared to the twists, turns and elevation changes of many North American road courses, and not to mention the bumpy street courses, Grosjean might feel right at home at IMS.
“There’s quite a bit of straight line with some big braking zones,” he said. “I guess in that aspect, yeah it (European). Barber or even Laguna Seca, they are a bit more twisty and you’re never really going straight, whereas here you got a nice run to do some good overtaking maneuvers. I think just the flow and design of it feels a bit more familiar than the other ones, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
Grosjean said he is taking the different style of racetracks in the United States in stride and is approaching every new circuit the same. That approach is working, as he’s enjoying a strong start to his season.
Grosjean started seventh and finished 10th in his first career race at Barber Motorsports Park. In his street-course debut at St. Petersburg, Florida, he started 18th and worked his way up to 13th at the finish of the grueling race.
He took the Texas Motor Speedway weekend off, as he is only competing on the road and street courses this season, and is back on track in Indianapolis looking to build off the performance his team put together at Barber.
“Going into the weekend, there’s a lot to learn,” he said. “We just need to make sure that we get the best setup. The positive thing is that we were competitive in Barber, and here I think it’s kind of similar in terms of track grip and surface and so on.”
Leading into the race weekend, Grosjean was announced as the honorary chair of the Rev celebration, which will take place Saturday, July 31 at IMS in the lead-up to the INDYCAR-NASCAR tripleheader weekend Aug. 13-15 on the IMS road course.
It was a fitting role for the French driver to fill, as he has a love for the culinary arts, and Rev will feature more than 60 chefs from Indianapolis’ best restaurants. Grosjean and his wife, Marion, are authors of the cookbook “Marion and Romain Grosjean Cuisine and Confidences.” Plus, Grosjean almost took another career path that led him to becoming a chef.
After his part-time F1 season in 2009, Grosjean didn’t have a ride lined up for the 2010 season. So, he pursued culinary school to follow his passion for cooking. However, he was turned down.
“I went to a cooking school, and I was too old to become a chef, so they turned me down,” he said. “That put me back to racing, which didn’t turn out to be a bad thing. Since then, I’ve had a chance to travel the world to meet many chefs through social media.”
It did work out for Grosjean, who scored 10 F1 podiums in 179 races before making the switch to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this year.
Competing at the 112-year-old racetrack this weekend clearly means a lot to Grosjean, but there’s another race here that means even more to the world of motorsports. Grosjean will not compete in the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 30. But he didn’t rule out the 106th Running in 2022.
“Never say never,” Grosjean said with a smile.