After IndyCar's Indianapolis Road Course race in May, Romain Grosjean was fourth in points with only Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Marcus Ericsson ahead of him. He’d scored two poles and two runner-up finishes, even though he’d been taken out of the lead battle in the St Petersburg season opener by Scott McLaughlin, and crashed out late on in Texas after clipping David Malukas when set for his best-ever oval result.
“We should’ve been leading [the championship] before the Indy 500,” he tells Autosport. “Then we got a bit unlucky. Mistakes were made, by myself and some others.”
Five months later, he went from title contender to ride-less, as his split from Andretti Autosport was finally confirmed via a lawsuit. As well as losing such a coveted seat, the ex-Formula 1 racer found many other avenues closed off. His salvation has come in the form of Juncos Hollinger Racing, which has snapped him up for 2024.
Led by Ricardo Juncos, a former Formula Renault driver who emigrated to America from Argentina in 2002 and ended up building an impressive team that rose all the way to IndyCar, it gets a high-profile racer with an impressive racing resume and a point to prove.
“I think there’s a lot more to come from me, I think it’s a case of reset and bounce back,” says Grosjean. “Let’s see where we go with Juncos, let’s see what we can do. You never know what the future is like. I think, for Juncos, it’s a great opportunity to have me, I think for me it’s great to have Juncos. And let’s do something together.
“What I’ve seen from Ricardo is that he’s always giving his best to make things happen. And he knows that I will do the same.”
Source: Autosport