Grosjean back for GP2 outing
23 July 2010
Romain Grosjean'career will come full circle at Hockenheim this weekend as he returns to the GP2 Series after a year away.
The Frenchman was on the crest of a wave this time a year ago. A title-challenger in GP2, he was appointed as Nelson Piquet Jr's successor at Renault following the outcome of the Singapore cheating scandal.
But a dismal half-season, followed by the sale of a stake in the Renault F1 squad to Gravity Management, resulted in him being turfed out of the squad and left to fend for himself.
In a bizarre twist though, Grosjean returns to GP2 far stronger than when he left it, both in terms of mental strength and reputation.
The first step in his reinvention was a debut win in the GT1 World Championship at Yas Marina just two weeks after signing for the Matech Ford squad. Another victory at Brno has helped he and his co-driver Thomas Mutsch to lie second in the championship. He made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in June as well.
Step two was a deal to drive for DAMS in Auto GP, and he rewarded the French squad with a win first-time out at Spa-Franorchamps. He lies second in that championship too now, despite having missed half the races.
Now DAMS has decided to promote him to its GP2 team for Hockenheim in place of the under-performing Jerome D'Ambrosio.
Would anyone really bet against him challenging for victory? After all, his form in 2010 has allowed him to rise to 67th in the Castrol Rankings after being as low as 109th earlier this year.
Romain's back, and his old rivals Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez had better keep an eye on their mirrors!
The Castrol Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
