Grosjean rounds the Long Beach fountain on his way to a second place result. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
Romain Grosjean finished runner-up in Sunday’s IndyCar race from Long Beach, as he was unable to complete the final pass that would have given him his first win in the series.
He made multiple attempts to pass Josef Newgarden in the closing laps, but the two-time champion defended well and was able to hold off the charging Frenchman.
After the race, Grosjean related that the reason he was not able to get past was partly due to his tires having been used up in a battle with Alex Palou just a couple laps before.
The two drivers passed each other back and forth in a hard-fought battle for second place, which left Grosjean with not enough performance to successfully make the pass for the lead.
“You know, you don’t have that much option when you’re on fresh tires or red versus black on a street course,” said Grosjean. You know it’s going to equalize itself after a while.
“As I said, the first [pass attempt] on Alex, he defended really well on the inside, braked super late, and I think that one — if I could have pulled that one out, then I would have been fine to get Josef on the next lap.
“But I did not, so by the time I got to Josef I didn’t have much Push-to-Pass left and he had a really good straight-line speed, so it was just hard to get him.
“We tried very hard. It was good enough for P2 but not good enough for a win, so next time.”
The second place finish is Grosjean’s third in IndyCar since he switched to the series last year, and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before he can take home a trophy.
Keyword: Grosjean’s battle with Palou cost him a chance at the win