Grosjean's First Indycar Test: 'Felt Like Home'
February 24, 2021 thepitwindow
Photo: Romain Grosjean getting ready for his first run in an Indycar. Joe Skibinski, Indycar
Tuesday Romain Grosjean got his first taste of Indycar as Dale Coyne Racing joined four other teams at Barber Motorsports Park in a preseason test. Barber is the site of the NTT Indycar Series opening race on April 18.Overall, he was happy with the day. This was Grosjean's first time in a race car since his November accident in the Formula 1 race in Bahrain.
The ,main differences Grosjean noticed between Formula 1 and Indycar were the mechanical grip and the lack of power steering.
"I discovered the joy of not having a power steering wheel, and I don't regret all those hours in the gym, but maybe I'll do some more just in case," Grosjean told the media.
"But I observed that the mechanical grip of the car is pretty outstanding and therefore you can try different lines in the corner and you can actually make it smooth in the way you want it."
Grosjean had no issue with the aeroscreen.
Overall, he felt yesterday was a good learning day. He even learned something from his spin in turn 1.
"…basically I just went too fast in. When I was on the brake I also picked up the throttle which you do in high speed, but because it's a mechanica ldiff it does open the diff when you do that, and therefore it makes the car lose, whereas in Formula 1 it would actually stabilize the car, so I would say it was a learning experience and then I didn't do it anymore, and it was better."
Grosjean's next test day will be at Laguna Seca. it's a track he looks forward to driving since he drove it on a video game when he was tounger.
Other teams testing today were Ed Carpenter racing in their first test of the year; Team Penske, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and A. J. Foyt Racing.
Who Was Fastest?
I have seen two different speed charts from yesterday. On One, Rinus VeeKay had the quick time. I learned that this chart was for times with drivers using push to pass. The other chart, without push to pass, had Sebastien Bourdais at the top. Grosjean was the slowest on both charts, as expected. He was, however, within a second of the leader on both sets.
Posted in Auto RacingTagged Dale Coyme Racing withRWR, NTT Indycar Series, Romain Grosjean
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