Edmonton, Alberta (July 25, 2010) – James Hinchcliffe collected his second victory of the Firestone Indy Lights Series season on Sunday as the Canadian stand-out delivered a textbook flag-to-flag performance in Round 8, the 'Edmonton 100', hosted on the temporary Edmonton Airport Circuit in Alberta, Canada.
The 23-year-old went from heartbreak to hero in a week following his crushing retirement on the last lap at his home race in Toronto last Sunday. The second and final leg of the Indy Lights tour of Canada proved more favorable to the driver of the #2 Team Moore Racing entry, James adding to his Long Beach victory from April and strengthening his second place in the Driver Standings behind France's J.K. Vernay.Hinchcliffe collected his fourth pole position of the season on Saturday thanks to a hot-lap around the 1.973-mile circuit of 1m06.216s. He was joined on the front-row by title rival Vernay, who had denied 'Hinch' a home pole seven days earlier on the streets of Toronto, the gap between the two series rivals a mere 1/100th of a second.
Sunday's 50-lap showdown proved to be a thrilling affair with James leading the charge from pole. With the race flat-out, with the exception of just one full-course caution period, it was Hinchcliffe's to lose as he had his mirrors full of Vernay's Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry from start to finish. Despite the constant pressure, the gap between the two front-runners rarely more than a second, Hinchcliffe delivered a racing master-class with flag-to-flag domination. Vernay had to settle for second with Great Britain's Martin Plowman rounding out the Edmonton top-three.
"I'm naturally thrilled to win on home soil," stated Hinchcliffe. "Our team owner, Tom Moore, is from Alberta so this is as good as a home win for him and as always, the Canadian fans have been outstanding in supporting the Indy event here and all the drivers. I'm also pretty pleased to have delivered another win and bounce back from last week's disappointment in Toronto, talk about motivation!
"Yesterday's qualifying session was key to today's success. It was so tight at the top between J.K and myself. He kept me more than honest today but we raced hard and clean which is how it should be. I just had no room for error and to be honest, I was fighting a loose car towards the end. The last 10 laps were definitely more exciting than I'd have liked, not that the previous 40 weren't, but the outcome was all I had hoped for. I think it was a good indicator that I've continued to mature as a driver and that I'm ready, and eager, to move up!"
2010 Top-5 Driver Standings (R8/13): 1st Vernay (FRA) – 335pts, 2nd HINCHCLIFFE (CAN) – 280pts, 3rd Plowman (GBR) – 253pts, 4th Kimball (USA) – 252pts, 5th Saavedra (COL) – 239pts
Round 9 of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series sees a return Stateside after the two-leg Canadian sweep with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio next up on Sunday 8th August - www.indycar.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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