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Interview

Hinchcliffe ready for his home races in Toronto

Motorsport.com chats with James Hinchcliffe ahead of him home Grand Prix.

James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

Jay Alley

While the waterfront regions of Toronto recover from flash flooding from mass amounts of rain, one driver is looking forward to heading home to run in a race that has historically not been very nice to the driver.

James Hinchcliffe is coming off a great qualifying effort in Pocono. But what appears to be the evidence of an hit and miss season, after failing to finish, smashing into the turn one wall very early in the contest.

Despite this, Hinchcliffe says he always looks forward to the race, or races in Toronto.

"It's just being on the property there. I grew up going to that race, just walking around exhibition place and the grounds there brings back so many memories from my childhood and falling in love with IndyCar racing," said Hinchcliffe. "To get to go back there an be a part of it all is so much fun, whether I am a fan and a spectator or a guy behind the wheel, it's one of my favourite weekends on the year."

'Hinch's race last year ended early with engine issues, sidelining the countryman. Even in junior ranks while he was working his way up, he has only managed a single podium finish in a total of six starts at the track.

"It's a track that has never actually been that kind to me if I am honest. In however many years I have been racing there, six year, I think I have had one podium there in Indy Lights back in 2009. The rest have been largely forgettable," said the Canadian.

"We are hoping for a big turnaround this year. Obviously the street course package has been pretty strong for us. We look forward to trying to break that bad luck duck in Toronto and adding a trophy would be great, and adding the big one would be unbelievable."

With the race only days away, Hinchcliffe says the double header format is very tough for the teams, but great for the fans.

"The pros are very obvious that it makes more action for the fans, getting two races in a weekend and give fans more bang for their buck so to speak and Indycar racing to watch on that weekend. That is the motivator behind this experiment," said Hinchcliffe.

"The cons are on the team and driver side. The crews have a tremendous work load on a normal weekend, and they normally have a week to rip apart and get the car ready for the next race, but now they have to do it overnight. That's if you haven't had an accident or an engine failure or something happen. It takes a tremendous toll on everyone involved. It's a lot of extra work, with the format the way it is you only get one practice session, which is tough on the drivers, the mechanics, the engineers because you are trying to be professional and do the best you can, but you are only given an hour to do that. It's a tough way to go racing."

In the down time, the Mayor of Hinchtown will enjoy his time at the track, and at home but will be focusing on making his car fast and getting himself into victory lane this weekend.

"That race in a lot of ways is the reason I fell in love with racing and wanting to get into the sport," said Hinch.

"When you are on track you kind of forget where you are and focus on the things you have to do with the car, and treating it as any other race track. But for me when you are sitting in pit lane and you can see the Toronto skyline and the CN tower, it brings you back and really makes you appreciate that you are at home. You get that moment of patriotism when you see the tower."

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