Hinchcliffe all set to get back on track
Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe, the only Canadian racing driver in this year’s Verizon IndyCar Series, which opens the season at St. Petersburg, Fla., next Sunday, will be making his first start since he nearly died of blood loss following a crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May. In this edited transcript of a wide-ranging interview, Hinchcliffe talks about his comeback and the announcement Monday of new sponsor Petro-Canada.
The first race you won in IndyCar was at St. Petersburg in 2013. You are opening the season there at the weekend. How’s your confidence?
My confidence is as high as ever. It hasn’t been easy to get back to this point, but I’ve worked very hard and I can sit here and say that I’m 100-percent healthy and I’m very excited to be going back to work.
This is your first race back after your crash at Indianapolis. You have done testing, but no racing, which can be an emotional, mental and physical stress test. Are you ready?
I’ve never felt more prepared. I’ve been able to train hard and to get myself above the level I was at before the accident. I’ve been a part of a lot of the testing, but testing is one thing; you want to go racing. I’m excited to get back to the competition.
What do you remember about your crash?
I have zero recollection of the accident itself. I suffered a fairly severe concussion and, as a result, I’ve been spared the details. But I found it therapeutic to find out everything that happened to me that day — the whole process, not just what happened with the car; how they got me out of it, the trip in the ambulance, what happened in the hospital. I had my surgeon take me to the ER room that I was in. He took me down the hall to the same elevator, the same OR, the same ICU and explained to me every single step of the way what was happening to me and what everybody was doing. I talked to the safety crew, to my friends and family how that day was with them. My parents were on a beach and they got a call that there was a plane waiting for them at the airport and to be on it. The whole thing was just a big blank but I know it was a big deal, especially for people who were close to me. I wanted to understand that better.
How long did it take for people to know you were on the road to recovery?
When I woke up in the ICU, I was on life support. I could only communicate with a pen and a piece of paper and the third thing I wrote was: “How long till I can get back in the race car?” I think that was when people realized that I was mentally unaffected; that I was as crazy as I’d been before the accident. And that my goal was 100 per cent to be back in the car. When I was coherent enough to have a conversation with my doctors, they told me I wouldn’t be able to walk for two weeks, I would be in hospital for a month and I wouldn’t be able to drive a car for six or seven months. I walked on Day 4, I left the hospital on Day 10 and four months later I drove a race car (at the Road America race course in Wisconsin).
The 100th Indianapolis 500 is coming up. Besides your crash last year, it has never been particularly kind to you (a race crash, a car that wouldn’t handle at 100 m.p.h., nevermind 200 m.p.h.). Does Indy owe you?
Indy doesn’t owe anybody anything. There actually are people who’ve had worse luck than me at Indy. It’s something you have to earn. There’s a reason it’s the biggest race in the world, there’s a reason why it’s been around 100 years and it’s the most prestigious thing that a driver can accomplish in his career.
Not to push the point, but you’ve crashed in the 500 before and also in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis (a race held on the Speedway’s road course).
It looks bad on paper; I know that. I hope there’s no black cloud following me around. I’m just going to keep my head down and stay focused.
It’s not only Indy where your luck hasn’t been the best. You’ll be running in the Honda Indy Toronto again this year, where you’ve also crashed and never finished higher than eighth. Are you looking forward to it?
I’m so excited to be coming back to Toronto. It’s rivalling my excitement for Indy. Although I missed it last year, I was so grateful I was able to travel — the Toronto race was the first race I was able to attend after the crash. In fact, it was the first time I was cleared to leave my house to go anywhere other than the hospital. It’s going to be a special feeling and we’re really focused on our street-racing program — they make up a third of our schedule — but, selfishly, I’m really kind of gearing on this one. Hopefully we can have a strong weekend here and give all the Canadian fans that have been so supportive and given me so much love something to cheer about.
It’s not just Canadian fans who have affection for James Hinchcliffe. A major Canadian corporation has signed on as a sponsor.
I think it shows we’re doing something right because people are taking notice. The partnership with PetroCanada lubricants is exciting because it’s more involvement from a Canadian corporation. When I was a young driver just starting out, we talked to them all — every company in this country pretty much. At the end of the day, it’s very difficult to sell something in Canada that isn’t hockey. Those are the facts. To be able to put together this program — my management company deserves a lot of credit — was not a quick sell. It was a process we had to go through to show what the value was, but ultimately we proved that it’s there and I hope that opens more doors. For a company that size and that scale to show an investment in IndyCar and James Hinchcliffe is a worthwhile endeavour is a very good thing.
You’ve become a homeowner. How and why did that come about?
I’d been living in Indianapolis for five or six years and it was time (to buy a house). A lot of guys, including some who are coming in now, are superstitious about buying a place for fear of being tied down. They worry that six weeks later they’d lose their ride, be out of a job. But I got to a point in my career that I felt established enough and it was something worthwhile; I was able to stop throwing money away for rent and to build up some equity. You could say it was time to grow up. And, of course, with the house came the newspaper subscription; the Indy Star gets delivered to my door. Next, it will be the wife, the dog and the 2.5 kids.
And how’s the beer?
Hinchtown Hammerdown ale is just fine, thank you. It’s been going really well and we’re working on a new strategy to get it back up into Canada and to get it a little more available here. But it’s tough. Dealing with booze in this country is very difficult.