INDIANAPOLIS (May 14, 2021) – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR rookie driver Romain Grosjean continued to impress and show his speed in his NTT IndyCar Series debut season on Friday by capturing his first NTT P1 Pole award for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Amazing,” expressed Grosjean. “When I saw the (first qualifying) group I was in, I was like, ‘Oh, dear, if we can get out of the first group, we’re going to be OK,’ and we did. That last few laps, we were on it. What a day for us. I’m happier than I have been in a very long time.”
Grosjean, who was also quick in practice earlier in the day, went out in Group 2 of Round 1 of qualifying and registered a fastest lap of 1:09.8556 which placed him fifth in his group and allowed him to move on to the Fast 12 for the second time this season.
The Swiss-Franco driver then secured his first trip to the Firestone Fast 6 with a third place thanks to a lap of 1:09.5476. The driver of the #51 Nurtec ODT car then took to the final round of qualifying with a used set of Firestone alternate tires and immediately jumped to first place on his first lap. Despite falling to second, Grosjean jumped back to P1 with a fastest lap of 1:09.4396
securing his first pole position in the series, in only his third NTT IndyCar Series start. Grosjean is the second Swiss-born driver to capture a pole since Louis Chevrolet (1916 and 1917). The Dale Coyne Racing with RWR driver will lead the field to the green flag when the GMR Grand Prix goes green at 2:45pm ET on Saturday, May 15. The race will be broadcast live on NBC from 2pm ET.