MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Romain Grosjean was asked to explain why he wants to drive an Indy car.
“Sexiness,” he said. “I think IndyCar is a top series, top drivers, top cars, super exciting to drive.”
After nine years and 180 F-1 starts, the French driver plans to join the NTT IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware for 13 road and street course races.
Another driver yet to be named will drive that entry on the ovals.
“It’s the one I want to do,” Grosjean said of IndyCar. “I have a chance after doing 10 years in Formula One, I had the option to discover something new. There were few options on the table, but I felt like the one that I wanted to do was IndyCar.
“I got in touch with Dale (Coyne) last year, before Imola. I really felt there were a big enthusiasm on getting me onboard. It’s something that I really, really loved and felt good about,” Grosjean explained. “I looked at the options that I had. I say what I want to do is to go in IndyCar because I’ve been watching the races. The series looks super competitive.
“The car looks fun to drive. The circuits looked amazing, just the old style that I really like,” he continued. “When you look at Road America, Mid-Ohio, the street courses, Laguna Seca, they’re part of the circuits that I used to play video games on those 20 years ago. Not good to say that, but 20 years ago.
“I am super excited to discover the championship. I’ve been absolutely adoring the YouTube channel of IndyCar over the Christmas period, watching every race for the last three seasons, trying to understand what I need to learn.
“There’s lots to learn from a rolling starts to doing the pit stop to learning the car. I’m ready to tackle the challenge. I think it’s the right one.”
Grosjean’s final F-1 race was in Bahrain, when the 34-year-old was involved in a fiery crash on the first lap. Grosjean’s left hand is still badly scarred from that crash as he continues to recover.
“This is my left hand, so it’s still quite marked,” Grosjean said, holding his hand up to the Zoom camera. “It’s uglier than it is bad, I would say. It’s all working well. The left-hand ligament was pulled away. I’ve had surgery. This is going OK.
“I think the first test for us is the 22nd of February. I may not yet be 100 percent in terms of what I can do, but definitely good enough to drive very well. By the time we go to race one, I think I’m going to be ready.”
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