IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay doesn’t expect the heat to be an issue for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know what we need from a big picture, whether that’s a team thing or a vehicle set up standpoint.’ There was a lot going on.
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Hinchcliffe, who races the No. 5 Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, comes into the race 13th in points and was 19th fastest in Friday morning’s practice, which was topped by Sebastien Bourdais. “But I have Dario (Franchitti-team driver coach) as my mentor and he just reminded me that he qualified on the pole as a rookie here (2009), so the pressure is on”. He’s not only the defending champion but is also coming off a win at last week’s Iowa Corn 300, where he led for 282-of-300 laps. I love Indy Car racing and I can’t afford to stay away from it. Pagenaud was fastest, while his Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Will Power were second and third.
Although there was a crash involving Pagenaud’s fourth teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya – which left him unscathed – the Frenchman is a fan of the modified track this year.
“I mean, short of winning the (Indianapolis) 500, this is as exciting as it gets for me to bring home a victory here”, Hinchcliffe said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., was fifth in the second practice, finishing in 1:02.1867 on the streets in Toronto’s Exhibition Place.
Newgarden said he’s been downgraded from a brace because it took up too much room in his auto and he couldn’t grip the wheel.
“The hand is really what’s bothering me, it’s going to be a problem”, Newgarden said. The recruitment of Honda Canada in 2009 in the role of title sponsor to replace Molson helped matters, but Toronto race crowds are maybe half of what they used to be. He now drives for the two-car team at Ed Carpenter Racing and was in the championship hunt last season, when he won two races and finished seventh in the final standings.
“I really thought Iowa was going to be the biggest challenge, but I haven’t been on a street course since Texas and I forgot how demanding they are”, he added. “I think for this place we have a pretty good auto, we just need to get everything together”.
Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe says he needs luck to fall his way if he’s going to pick up his first victory of the season at this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto.
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“I think we had a lot of build up”, he said. The top six are then taken from each group to compete against each other before the third round features a shootout of the six fastest cars.
