Romain Grosjean Visits 'Bucket List' Track as IndyCar Education Continues

From Autoweek

• Romain Grosjean is taking on the NTT IndyCar Series for the first time after spending the past decade in Formula 1.

• Grosjean is looking forward to being competitive again after not having reached the podium in F1 since 2015.

• Grosjean will be driving the road course and street circuits for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR.

Romain Grosjean's great American racing adventure is getting more real every day.

Grosjean, the long-time Formula 1 veteran who is taking on a new career challenge in the NTT IndyCar Series this season, says that his learning curve has given him a chance to already cross one U.S. road circuit off his bucket list. That happened at a recent test at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

"I mean, it was definitely one of the circuits on my bucket list to drive one day," Grosjean said. "I was a little bit like a child when I arrived there. Obviously, the first lap in the car, it was very special. The corkscrew is a great feeling.

"Actually once you get the left part of the corkscrew, you are OK-ish. It's just straight down where you don't see where it goes. A bit of a gentle on throttle there, then pin it down to go towards turn nine. But definitely a really good track."

Grosjean, who raced the past five years with the Haas F1 Team in Formula 1, is driving the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda in IndyCar.

"Everything is going well," Grosjean said. "I think obviously the first test is getting in the car, seeing how it works. The second test was starting to get more performance out of the car, trying to find a way that you need to drive to go fast, which is actually quite different from Formula 1. It was interesting.

"We made some good progress in Laguna Seca. I wasn't too unhappy with the lap times and the potential we had in the car. I feel like we've made some good steps. We have one more day of testing in Sebring before the first two races of the year. Obviously that's going to be quite important, as well."

Grosjean is driving the road courses and street circuits this season. Pietro Fittipaldi, a reserve driver with Haas F1 this year, is driving the No. 51 for the ovals. Two two are paired with full-time driver Ed Jones.