Toronto, Ontario (May 28, 2010) – James Hinchcliffe followed up last month’s Firestone Indy Lights Series Long Beach victory with another trip to the podium on Friday as the Canadian claimed third in the ‘Firestone Freedom 100’ at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Toronto-born racer turned around a frustrating eighth-place qualifying slot to record his second straight top-three finish of the season behind the wheel of the #2 Team Moore Racing Dallara-Firestone, James completing the podium behind race-winner Wade Cunningham and Charlie Kimball.
Having been forced to wait over a month before returning to competitive action, ‘Hinch’ was glad to be back racing and was keen to put a disappointing early retirement in last year’s ‘Firestone Freedom 100’ firmly behind him.
Initially dropping a spot to ninth on the opening lap of Friday’s 100-mile sprint, James’ pace was obvious when the race finally developed after a handful of laps under the caution thanks to contact between a spinning Jeff Simmons and a helpless Pippa Mann, the pole-sitter.
Hinchcliffe picked off his rivals from sixth at the re-start quickly joining New Zealand’s Cunningham and America’s Kimball in a breakaway trio at the front. He claimed second from Kimball on lap 18 with the duo dicing for position while racing flat-out on the legendary 2.5-mile oval.
James ultimately lost out in the battle for second several laps later, almost hitting the wall as France’s J.K. Vernay played himself into proceedings despite being several laps down on the leaders. The 23-year-old Canadian, once free again, then held his own in third, fending off all advances from behind, equaling his best oval result to-date in the Firestone Indy Lights Series.
“To be able to race up at the front of the field was awesome,” stated Hinchcliffe afterwards. “Last year my motor blew up on the opening lap so this was really my first time racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s a really cool feeling to compete here and the crowd today was amazing!
“To get a podium at Indy is terrific so I can’t be too upset about the incident which dropped me back to third. Ultimately it was a good day for points, not least with J.K. Vernay struggling. We just need to maintain our consistency moving forward!”
2010 Top-5 Driver Standings (R4/13): 1st Vernay (FRA) – 157pts, 2nd Kimball (USA) – 152pts, 3rd HINCHCLIFFE (CAN) – 134pts, 4th Plowman (GBR) – 120pts, 5th Saavedra (COL) – 107pts
Round 5 of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series is hosted at the Iowa Speedway on Saturday 19th June – www.indycar.com // ENDS – www.hinchtown.com // Press release issued on behalf of James Hinchcliffe by SM-PR: Tel: +1 514 684 2621 / Cell: +1 514 945 3253 / Email: stuart@sm-pr.com
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