Hinchcliffe, team owner want IndyCar in Calgary
Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe would like nothing more than to win a race in his home country.
After recording back-to-back third place showings at the Honda Indy Toronto, the 30-year-old native of Oakville, Ont., believes he’ll one day take the checkered flag in Canada.
“I think short of winning the Indy 500, that’s pretty much the best thing you could hope for,” said Hinchcliffe, who was in Calgary earlier this week to meet with local businessman and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports co-owner Ric Peterson. “I won an Indy Lights race in Edmonton (in 2010) when we were still racing there and I remember how much that meant to me and how supportive the Canadian fans are of their drivers.”
Although Toronto is the only stop on the Verizon IndyCar Series circuit, that could change as early as the 2019 season if it’s up to Peterson, who has been advocating for Calgary to host a race.
“I’m pushing for it because it is the right area for an IndyCar race,” said Peterson, who welcomed back Hinchcliffe to the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team last month. “IndyCar wants another race in Canada and we think Calgary’s the best place to have it and I happen to be from here, so that’s another good reason to have it here.”
Peterson hoped to be in position to reveal details about a new race for Calgary in the 2018 season, but IndyCar instead announced an event would return to the Portland International Raceway from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2018 following a 10year absence.
“We were hoping for ’18, but we had a number of setbacks, so I’m hoping for ’19,” Peterson said. “We think we’ve got a good place to host it, but we’re not releasing that information yet.”
Peterson has even gone so far as to recruit help from Green Savoree Racing Promotions (GSRP) to bring a race to the Stampede City. GSRP runs the races in Toronto and Portland.
Adding another race in Calgary would give Hinchcliffe yet another opportunity to accomplish his goal of winning on Canadian soil.
“I think Ric’s right that Calgary’s an absolutely perfect market for it,” he said. “It would be huge.
“For me, down the road, I’d love to see three races. I think Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. If we had those three races, that would be great for the sport in Canada. That would be great for the sport in general. They’re three really good cities that really get behind motorsports and support events like that.”
While Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal have hosted and lost IndyCar races, Hinchcliffe remains confident fans will support at least two more events in Canada.
“We’ve seen the Toronto race growing pretty impressively the last couple years,” said the 2011 IndyCar Rookie of the Year. “There’s no doubt it went through a bit of a dry patch, but it’s really on the up, which just means that IndyCar in Canada is carrying a little bit more weight, so it’s a great time to start investigating other opportunities for races in the country.”
As for his decision to sign a multiyear extension with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Hinchcliffe called it a “no-brainer.”
The winner of five career IndyCar races also welcomed his longtime friend and countryman Robert Wickens, of Guelph, Ont., to the team.
“Everybody wanted to continue what we’ve been building,” said Hinchcliffe, who reached the podium three times in 17 starts last season — including a win at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “We’ve brought in some new talent on the engineering side, on the mechanic side and on the driver’s side with Robbie coming in.
“We’re really making some big moves personnel-wise to try and really go fight with the big guys this year.”
Peterson said he’s confident Wickens will help push Hinchcliffe to improve upon his 13th-place showing in the IndyCar standings last season.
“Last year was our worst year,” he said. “It was a struggle. We really did need to make some big changes and we did all throughout the whole team. I’m very confident. These two guys are going to be pushing each other. That’s going to help.”
For me, down the road, I’d love to see three (IndyCar) races. I think Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.