Just over four months after his terrifying collision at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain, Roman Grogan is back in competition this weekend as he made his debut in the US single-seat IndyCar series.

The French driver made himself a lovely gift on Saturday, his 35th birthday, when he finished seventh on the starting net of the first round of the season, which will take place today at Barber Circuit, Alabama.

Grogan thought he could advance to the final round of the qualifiers, which brings together the six fastest drivers, but was beaten in the last moments by veteran Australian Will Power.

“We tried it all,” Grogan said at a news conference, “It just didn’t work. Traffic got in the way in the end, but whatever.”

“We can’t help but feel good about our performance and want to do better on Sunday. It’s the race result that matters,” said Dale Quinn, the team’s colorist.

O’Ward is at the top

Pato O’Ward will start from the leading position when the start signal is given this afternoon. The young Mexican driver beat American Alexander Rossi, another Formula 1 defector, by ten seconds.

The second and third rows, in order, will be occupied by Spain’s Alex Palau, Bauer, New Zealand’s Scott Dickson and Sweden’s Marcus Erickson.

Jamie Johnson, who changed his career to IndyCar this year after winning seven NASCAR Series titles, will start at 21st place at the start.

The only Canadian drivers to start with, Ontario Dalton Kellett and James Henschliffe, will attend the 23rd and 24th spots, respectively.