Romain Grosjean may not have garnered the much-needed reputation around F1, having frequently fallen trap to silly errors, controversies, and trolls. But he certainly is becoming a hero around the United States with his move to IndyCar this year.
After witnessing marginal success in Formula 1, Grosjean moved to IndyCar, hoping to seek some battles at the front, rather than lingering down the order. And how impressively has his rookie season panned out so far!
Hailing his astonishing performances this season, a street in Indianapolis was renamed for Grosjean, honoring the Frenchman ahead of the upcoming Indy race. Along with the former Haas F1 driver, several other drivers from Indy and NASCAR, too, joined the list of elites.
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Surprised to see a street in Indianapolis renamed for Grosjean (and apparently a few others in NTT and NASCAR) in honor of the upcoming Indy Car race from formula1
One would say that the crash in Bahrain last year turned things around for Grosjean, who, until that point, had faced nothing but criticisms. However, after he walked from the blazing inferno alive, fans started showering Grosjean with abundant respect.
Hence, he bid adieu to F1 with massive backing from the F1 fans and walked straight into the American fandom-engulfed IndyCar series. While a lot predicted Grosjean to struggle a bit at Indy, the ex-F1 driver proved them all wrong.
How incredible has the journey been for Romain Grosjean?
Grosjean hit the roof of glory at the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, where he secured his first-ever Indy pole position. That also ended up being his first pole position since May 2011, at the GP2 Asia series. What’s more, the French lad drove a brilliant race to see the checkered flag in P2.
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Returning to IndyCar after the Indianapolis 500, Grosjean had yet another decent outing in Michigan. He qualified third, securing his first front-row start on a street circuit. However, he couldn’t carry his success into the race, as he crashed out with just five laps left on the board.
A similar story unfolded during race 2 as well. Starting from P5, Grosjean’s brakes caught on fire, causing his second consecutive DNF at Detroit. What followed were two decent races, at Road America and later at Mid-Ohio with P5 and P7, respectively.
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Such has been the journey for Grosjean this season with Dale Coyne Racing/Rick Ware Racing. He is currently holding onto P16 on the championship table, with a rather impressive 151 points in hand. With a handful of races left to go, how further can he climb up on the standings?
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