Juncos Hollinger Racing Team co-owner Ricardo Juncos says that his new driver Romain Grosjean in the No.77 Chevrolet did an amazing job as he will start Sunday’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding from fifth place with a time of 01:03.0642s and speaking following the action, Ricardo Juncos said:
“I think now he is in P2 (in regards to Romain Grosjean in Group 2 of qualifying). Amazing job. We are all really happy to have someone like Romain Grosjean with us. I think he brings to the teams a lot of experience, and he’s been great for us, for the whole team. I think we have also Agustin (Canapino) in the top-six (of Round 1), but he missed a little bit of the last two corners. Until then, we were also in the top-six, so I think big improvement for the whole team.”
Romain Grosjean was delighted with his first qualifying session for JHR saying:
It is very satisfying. Last year, one (pole) was very special, and this year, I was hoping we could get into the Fast Six after P1, but I wasn’t quite sure about it. We made it in the Fast Six. We didn’t have the speed for the guys in the front, but anyway, I’m very proud of everything that’s been done. Chevy has been helping us a lot with data and on-track. Our team has worked a long way since Sebring where I wasn’t sure we’d be top-10 in qualifying, and here we are. I’m very happy with that. We have a good baseline.”
The French-Swiss driver went on to say:
“It’s a very, very good qualifying. I still think we have some work to be done, but I think the guys have a very clear idea of where I think I want the improvement to be made, and that’s where we’re going to try.”
Agustin Canapino starts the race from 20th with a time of 59.9308s and speaking following the action he said:
The entire JHR team is very excited for the start of the championship on the streets of St. Pete. After an intense and arduous preseason, where we worked extensively on the updates to the hybrid system of the cars, team protocols, and the reorganization of the various departaments of the team, we can’t wait to begin the championship and continue growing in this series, which is the most competitive in the world”.