While he’s never won in Toronto, Hinchcliffe is still the headliner
TORONTO — When it was James Hinchcliffe’s turn to speak among the panel of IndyCar drivers at Thursday’s opening news conference, MC Michael Young jokingly skipped right past the Canadian.
“James Hinchcliffe, thanks for joining us. And now we meet Simon Pagenaud,” Young said, tongue in cheek.
“You can say what you want, man, this is my town!” Hinchcliffe fired back with a laugh.
The good-natured jab was both a highlight of an entertaining news conference, and underlined Hinchcliffe’s star status in Toronto. The 32-year-old from Oakville has never won the Honda Indy Toronto. But he’s the headliner just the same.
“It’s always incredible to come back here to Toronto, and get to race around basically my backyard,” Hinchcliffe said. “This is the race that made me fall in love with IndyCar racing as a kid, and made me want to be an IndyCar driver.”
The IndyCar championship battle heats up on the streets of Toronto as the series returns from a three-week hiatus.
Hinchcliffe has never won on his home track, but has been solid the last three seasons, with two third-place finishes, and no finish lower than fourth.
While Hinchcliffe is pulled every which way, from charity appearances to media interviews, when he arrives in town, the Canadian always feels privileged to be able to race in front of a home crowd.
“So many of the guys sitting up here don’t get races in even their home country,” Hinchcliffe said.
New Zealander Scott Dixon, who’s won three times in Toronto including last season, said he feels somewhat at home.
“I guess it’s the closest thing to a home race for me, being part of the Commonwealth,” he said. “I’ll take that.”
Does Hinchcliffe feel more pressure racing at home?
“I think athletes put so much pressure on themselves to perform, so we could be in Toronto or Tahiti, I want to win the race,” said Hinchcliffe, who’s ninth in the IndyCar standings.
Hinchcliffe has fond memories of watching the race that snakes around Toronto’s Exhibition Place. His lifelong ties to the event aren’t lost on him.
“You stand there in pit lane and you look across Turn 9 and Turn 10 and see everybody, I remember being there as a kid. I grew up here — literally here — on these grounds, this was my favourite week of the year as a kid,” he said.
“To come back and be on the other side of the fence is amazing.”