IndyCar – Romain Grosjean takes second pole of the season at Barber!
Tonight, Romain Grosjean (Andretti) will start from pole position at the Alabama Grand Prix, round four of the 2023 IndyCar Championship. The Frenchman set the fastest qualifying time yesterday at the Barber Road Circuit.
He’s done it again: after a maiden pole position at St. Petersburg, Florida, and a mastered podium at Long Beach, California, Romain Grosjean chained his accomplishments by taking a signed new Poles driving an Andretti that once again proved its qualities on the track.
He starts ahead of 2021 champion Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) and Pato O’Ward (Mclaren), who is beaten by a handful of hundredths of a second by the Frenchman.
The second Frenchman in the category, Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank Racing), qualified in 16th place but, despite the lack of performance, had a good feeling behind the wheel of his monoposto which he didn’t hesitate to emphasize. But he says he’s confident for tomorrow’s race, which is likely to be “very interesting”.
What if it was for tonight?
Grosjean will once again seek his first transatlantic success, which he has been seeking since arriving in the discipline two years ago. But watch out for race facts that could hurt his quest: his last pole came in a collision with Scott McLaughlin (Penske) at St Petersburg last March as they battled for the race lead.
And as he says so beautifully on American television: “We’re starting from the best position, but we still have 90 laps to go”.
Post-qualification conference with Romain Grosjean
The Andretti Autosport driver answered our questions at a press conference shortly after his pole position.
Congratulations on your second pole of the season! We had fun. Can you tell us something about your qualifying and your feelings?
Qualifying was pretty good, let’s talk about that Fast Six : I think my first run could have been my best lap, but I completely missed the braking point at turn 13 and understeered badly. On my second run it took me a little longer to warm up the tires, I adjusted the anti-roll bars in the car a bit to find a good balance. When I attacked on the last lap the car was handling very well out of the corners so I felt I had the grip and confidence to set a good time.
We saw that the engine broke in free practice, should we be concerned about reliability? We’re seeing the Andretti doing well at race and qualifying pace, but what to expect in terms of reliability?
On Friday break we are not in much. It was the last motor weekend, there were no warning signs. We know a lot of effort has gone into finding a little performance in the winter on Honda’s part, and who says performance inevitably means we push a little to the limit. So they will analyze what happened, but they have no further concerns.
See you tonight at 9:15 p.m. at the Alabama Grand Prix, a race that will be broadcast on Canal+ Sport.
Cover picture – PENSKE ENTERTAINMENT
