INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Romain Grosjean’s first Indianapolis 500 test session took flight quickly Tuesday.
As he navigated a 200-plus mph lap through the third turn on the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval, Grosjean’s No. 18 Honda clipped a bird — not far from the 12th green of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course where the goal is to make birdies. Grosjean, left with no choice at such a high speed, did the only thing he could. The implications of that regrettable result were splattered across the left leg of Grosjean’s fire suit.
“I still have blood on my race suit, there were pieces of the bird on my rollbar. The helmet stinks, the seat stinks,” the French driver said. “I couldn’t see where I was going any more, there’s plenty on the aero screen, so it was far from ideal.”
It’s not the first time Grosjean and a wild creature have inadvertently made contact on a racetrack. In 2019 during practice for Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix, a groundhog got on the course as Grosjean drove through the 13th turn. The surprise, albeit unavoidable collision, damaged the nose of Grosjean’s car and drew his ire because series officials did nothing to prevent it.
But aside from the unexpected bird this time, Grosjean’s first day on the oval in nearly two years was memorable for many other reasons. His Dale Coyne Racing car overcame the early collision to post the 11th-fastest lap of the morning test session at 219.362 mph. He posted the sixth-fastest lap in the afternoon session, 224.307, to give him a confidence boost heading into the biggest month of IndyCar’s season and the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500.
“It’s a long month and every day is different,” he said. “Some days you feel like a hero, sometimes there you feel like a zero. Hopefully, come race day, you’re more on the hero side than the zero side.”
Tuesday was a good day for most of the field.
Driver turned television commentator Jack Harvey, of England, and Helio Castroneves posted the two fastest times among the five refresher course participants. Harvey had a fast lap of 221.154, while Castroneves was second in the refresher course and second in the afternoon at 225.200. The Brazilian is trying to become the first five-time 500 winner.
Conor Daly made a late jump to the top of the leaderboard with a fast lap of 225.394.
Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, passed his rookie test on the first of the two-day tests. The younger Schumacher posted the slowest laps of the eight drivers who ran in the combined session at 217.706, his first oval laps at Indy.
“I think in this case, personally, I probably would have done it anyways, slowly making my way to speed,” he said. “I didn’t really feel I needed a specific target. Essentially, this is not a totally new experience. I did Phoenix, I tested at St. Louis, so I had some knowledge of ovals. I thought it was very straight forward.”
The only veteran who did not turn a lap Tuesday was Katherine Legge, who was named A.J. Foyt Racing’s third driver on Monday.
Australian Will Power, the 2018 winner, spent most of the afternoon atop the speed chart with a lap of 223.151 in rather ideal afternoon weather conditions — bright sun, slight wind and temperatures in the mid to high 60s. But he slid back to 10th in the final 30 minutes as he drives for Andretti Global after spending the past 17 years with Team Penske.
“I was like ‘How’s this going to feel?’” Power said between test sessions, referring to his No. 26 Honda. “It felt quite comfortable. We were by ourselves doing various checks. They haven’t run in traffic or anything yet so not much to speak of.”
Harvey had the fastest non-tow speed of the day at 220.318. Daly was sixth on the non-tow list at 219.270.
And on Wednesday they’ll get one more shot — if the weather cooperates. The forecast calls for a 50% chance of morning showers with partly cloudy skies expected in the afternoon and a high of 61 degrees (16 Celsius). Grosjean just hopes its a little less dicey on Day 2.
“It’s just getting back into the groove starting the month of May,” Grosjean said. “Any time we spend in a car is a good day, so just happy to be driving cars.”
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