WATCH: Romain Grosjean Kisses the Brickyard at Indianapolis Ahead of His Oval Test Debut

Romain Grosjean, a driver who barely witnessed any significant success in F1, is on course to reach the roof of fame in the world-famous motorsport series, IndyCar. The Frenchman jumped ship onto the North American open-wheel racing event following his exit from Haas F1.

Amidst such an impressive rookie Indy season so far, Grosjean’s next race challenge is less than a month away at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What’s more, Grosjean will also be making his test debut at the Oval, on Tuesday.

Hence, ahead of the main event, the former Lotus F1 driver decided to visit the circuit, during which he also kissed the bricks on the start-finish line to gain some luck.

What did Romain Grosjean say?

In a video uploaded on YouTube, Grosjean walked onto the start-finish line and followed the tradition of kissing the bricks.

“Everyone, this is quite exceptional. We are on to the start-finish line and look at this, the most famous brick out of the world. Shall we kiss it? Let’s go. There you go.

“That’s pretty good, isn’t it?” Grosjean said in the video.

Grosjean is prepping up for the 12th round of the season, the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The event will take place between August 13, 2021, and August 14, 2021, on the very same circuit.

However, that’s not it. Grosjean is also keen on getting his foot onto the Indy 500 next year. Hence, the Dale Coyne Racing driver will be kick-starting his first test soon.

The story behind the bricks at Indianapolis

Back in 1909, 3.2 million paving bricks were laid on top of the crushed rock and tar in a bid to improvise the track. However, then arrived the asphalt, which steadily took over certain sections of the circuit.

And, by 1961, the entire track had asphalt on top of it, except for a 36-inch strip on the start-finish line. Considering such an astonishing story behind the bricks, one of the NASCAR drivers started the tradition of kissing the bricks.

In 1996, Dale Jarrett kneeled down to kiss the bricks after winning the Brickyard 400. Of course, he wasn’t alone, as the entire crew joined the American to kiss the bricks as a tribute to the legendary Indianapolis circuit. Since then, both Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 winners have followed the tradition.

So, will Grosjean manage to win his upcoming Grand Prix at the ‘Brickyard’ to gain himself a chance at kissing the bricks in front of the crowd? Well, only time will tell.

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