Romain Grosjean settled for a bittersweet runner-up in Long Beach, California. (Photo: Logan Skidan | The Podium Finish)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – A day before Romain Grosjean’s 37th birthday, the Geneva, Switzerland native sought his elusive maiden victory in the NTT INDYCAR Series in Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Heading into Sunday’s race at the pristine street course, Grosejan tallied four podiums, including his runner-up in last year’s race at this 1.968-mile venue.
Starting from the third position, the third-year IndyCar competitor kept himself and his No. 28 DHL Dallara Honda entry in contention throughout the 85-lap race.
Much like the season opener at St. Petersburg, Grosjean had solid pace and ran toward the front of the field. Similarly, he was confident, tenacious, and ready to pounce at the right time if the leader made a mistake.
In this case, his primary adversary was in the form of Kyle Kirkwood, his Andretti Autosport teammate.
Certainly, Grosjean drove a rather faultless race and his pit crew executed twice to keep themselves in the hunt.
Moreover, the cagey veteran had plentiful boosting power in the waning laps, mainly with 188 push-to-pass seconds at his disposal. However, he had to balance between being on the offense for the win and playing it smart with preserving as much fuel as possible.
By all means, a driver of Grosjean’s caliber is ideally on the offense, ready to leap at the best opportunity.
Nevertheless, Grosjean had to think big picture versus realizing his first IndyCar win. Settling for a runner-up on Sunday afternoon, he contemplated over the possibilities of his maiden series victory.
Grosjean found solace under the Southern California sunshine on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
“Oh man, tell me about it,” Grosjean said to IndyCar on NBC pit reporter Dave Burns. “I pressed the button twice in the whole race until the last lap. 188 left on the last lap, it was like, ‘Ah!’ But that’s tough. But it is what it is. It was a fuel race. I should’ve used it earlier.”
All things considered, Grosjean’s first podium of the year boosts him from 15th to seventh in the championship standings. Similarly, he reflected on the positives of his latest IndyCar efforts.
“It’s awesome for Kyle. I’m happy for him,” he said. “I wish I was in his position right now, but he drove a hell of a race, like a champ, the whole weekend. He deserved that. We tried everything we could on our end, but it was not easy.
“It was a fuel situation, so we couldn’t really attack. And I think the car could’ve been a touch better here and there but it’s good to finish P2 and we’re on the highs now.”
Like a moviegoer who replays their favorite film, hoping for a different outcome, Grosjean understood that sheer will and desire was not going to sway his destined result.
“Yeah, I knew it wasn’t going to work out,” he said. “And I was trying to go one lap longer than him but I think we’ll protect the team. That was a smart thing to do.
“So we’re first and second, that’s more important than anything for us. I wish it was the other way around. But as I say, Kyle deserved it this weekend.”
Surely, Grosjean’s determination and big picture thinking resulted in a strong runner-up at Long Beach. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
Following the race, team owner, Michael Andretti, praised Grosjean on his efforts and mature approach in the season’s third race of the year. Logging a podium after two tough races in a row may pay dividends as the series prepares for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, Apr. 30 (3 p.m. ET on NBC).
“That means that I didn’t try to attack,” Grosjean said. “I didn’t try to go for the win. I stayed out of trouble and we did what we had to do. It was not easy for saving that much fuel for that long having Newgarden fall behind us and it was the same situation.
“We did a good job. I’m happy for Honda, DHL and all the other sponsors. But generally, I’m more happy for me as well.”
