James Hinchcliffe
| James Hinchcliffe | |
|---|---|
 Hinchcliffe at the 2011 Indianapolis 500 |
|
| Nationality |  Canadian |
| Born | December 5, 1986 Oakville, Ontario |
| 2012 IndyCar Series | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Andretti Autosport |
| Car no. | 27 |
| Starts | 16 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Previous series | |
| 2009-2010 2006-2008 2006-2007 2005 2004 |
Firestone Indy Lights Atlantic Championship A1 Grand Prix Star Mazda Series Formula BMW USA |
| Awards | |
| 2010 2011 |
Greg Moore Legacy Award IndyCar Rookie of the Year Tony Renna Rising Star Award |
James Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver from Oakville, Ontario currently competing in the IndyCar Series. On January 10th, 2012 it was announced that Hinchcliffe would succeed Danica Patrick as the driver of the #27 Go Daddy.com car for Andretti Autosport.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Racing career
[edit] Early racing
After karting, he started his open-wheel career in 2003, when he finished 3rd in Bridgestone Racing Academy F2000 series. Next year he was top rookie in Formula BMW USA, winning three races. In 2005, he raced in the Star Mazda Series, finishing 3rd overall with three wins. In 2006 he moved to the Champ Car Atlantic Series series with Forsythe Racing. He won one race at Portland and scored two other podiums, but was only able to finish 10th in the overall standings.
[edit] A1 Grand Prix
He then joined A1 Team Canada in A1 Grand Prix. He finished 8th in the sprint race and 13th in the feature in his first race at Zandvoort, then had a stunning weekend in Brno. He scored 2nd in the sprint race at the Czech round and led the feature for the majority of the race, but clashed with eventual winner Alex Yoong dropped him down to 5th. He raced next at the Beijing round, finishing 4th in the sprint race and 10th in the feature (which he could have won but for a team pitstop strategy error), and then returned after two races out at the New Zealand round, where he finished 6th in both races.
'Hinch' once again raced in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2007, this time with the Sierra Sierra team. He finished 4th in points without a win. During the season he was also a guest commentator on the international feed for Champ Car World Series races. He returned to Forsythe Racing for the 2008 Atlantic Championship season, again finishing 4th in points but this time capturing a win in the second race of the season at Laguna Seca.
[edit] Firestone Indy Lights Series
For the 2009 season, he competed in the Firestone Indy Lights Series for perennial powerhouse team Sam Schmidt Motorsports in their #7 car. Hinchcliffe struggled by #7 car standards, finishing 5th in points without a win or pole position. In 2010 season, he signed on with the less historically-successful Team Moore Racing in their #2 entry. Hinchcliffe captured three wins and five more podium finishes on his way to second in the championship behind French rookie Jean-Karl Vernay who was driving the Schmidt #7 car.
He also served as the driver analyst for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 as regular driver analyst Davey Hamilton was competing in the race.
[edit] IndyCar Series
In April 2011, Hinchcliffe signed with Newman/Haas Racing to compete in the remainder of 2011 IndyCar Series season, excluding the Twin Ring Motegi race, after missing the first race of the season at St. Petersburg. He made his debut at Barber Motorsports Park and failed to finish after making contact with a spinning E. J. Viso. He then picked up his first career top five finish in just his second start in the series on the Streets of Long Beach with a 4th place finish. Hinchcliffe then collected a top ten on the Streets of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He finished 9th.
James started 13th in his first Indianapolis 500. Hinchcliffe ran up front for an early portion of the race before crashing on lap 101 and finishing 29th.
Following the Indy 500, was the Firestone Twin 275s in Texas. 'Hinch', however, struggled in both races and had finishes of 20th and 19th, respectively. Hinchcliffe then rebounded to collect his 2nd top ten of the season with a 6th at the Milwaukee Mile. [2] Hinchcliffe was strong for the rest of the year, collecting Rookie of the Year Honors, just beating out Panther Racing's J.R. Hildebrand. However, after the 2011 Indycar season it was announced that Newman/Haas racing would not be returning to Indycar making Hinchcliffe a free agent. On January,10th 2012 it was announced that Hinchcliffe will replace Danica Patrick as driver of the GoDaddy car renumbered to #27.[3]
[edit] Motorsports career results
[edit] Complete A1 Grand Prix results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | Canada | NED SPR 8 |
NED FEA 13 |
CZE SPR 2 |
CZE FEA 5 |
CHN SPR 4 |
CHN FEA 10 |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
IDN SPR |
IDN FEA |
NZL SPR 6 |
NZL FEA 6 |
AUS SPR 13 |
AUS FEA Ret |
RSA SPR 13 |
RSA FEA Ret |
MEX SPR 13 |
MEX FEA 15 |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
GBR SPR |
GBR FEA |
11th | 33 |
| 2007–08 | NED SPR 19 |
NED FEA 18 |
CZE SPR 12 |
CZE FEA 11 |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
ZHU SPR |
ZHU FEA |
NZL SPR |
NZL FEA |
AUS SPR |
AUS FEA |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
SHA SPR |
SHA FEA |
GBR SPR 15 |
GBR FEA 17 |
9th | 75 |
[edit] American open–wheel racing results
(key)
[edit] Atlantic Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Forsythe Racing |  LBH 3 |
HOU 4 |
 MTY 16 |
POR 1 |
CLE1 17 |
CLE2 19 |
TOR 6 |
EDM Ret |
SJO Ret |
DEN 7 |
MTL 3 |
ROA Ret |
10th | 160 |
| 2007 | Sierra Sierra Enterprises | LVG 4 |
LBH 7 |
HOU 3 |
POR1 2 |
POR2 2 |
CLE 6 |
MTT 3 |
TOR Ret |
EDM1 3 |
EDM2 9 |
SJO Ret |
ROA 14 |
4th | 224 |
| 2008 | Forsythe Racing | LBH 10 |
LS 1 |
MTT 4 |
EDM1 3 |
EDM2 3 |
ROA1 5 |
ROA2 8 |
TRR Ret |
NJ 16 |
UTA 10 |
ATL 3 |
4th | 196 |
[edit] Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | STP1 6 |
STP2 3 |
LBH 3 |
KAN 12 |
INDY 16 |
MIL 7 |
IOW 3 |
WGL 21 |
TOR 3 |
EDM 4 |
KTY 7 |
MDO 2 |
SNM 6 |
CHI 12 |
HMS 14 |
5th | 395 |
| 2010 | Team Moore Racing | STP 15 |
ALA 5 |
LBH 1 |
INDY 3 |
IOW 5 |
WGL 2 |
TOR 10 |
EDM 1 |
MDO 7 |
SNM 3 |
CHI 1 |
KTY 2 |
HMS 2 |
2nd | 471 |
[edit] IndyCar Series
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Newman/Haas Racing | STP |
ALA 24 |
LBH 4 |
 SAO 9 |
INDY 29 |
TXS1 20 |
TXS2 19 |
MIL 6 |
IOW 9 |
TOR 14 |
EDM 15 |
MDO 20 |
NHM 4 |
SNM 7 |
BAL 24 |
 MOT 15 |
KTY 4 |
LVS C |
12th | 302 |
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win)** |
Top 10s (Non-podium)*** |
Indianapolis 500 Wins |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
- ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
- *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.
[edit] References
- ^ http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id=384663
- ^ Gerhart, Brad. Rough Start for Hinchcliffe in First IndyCar Event, Paddock Talk, April 11, 2011, Retrieved 2011-04-12
- ^ http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-hinchcliffe-confirmed-at-andretti-autosport
