TORONTO, CANADA – The opening round of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series proved to be short-lived for Canada’s James Hinchcliffe. Having claimed pole on the 1.8-mile St. Petersburg, Florida street course on Saturday, the 23-year-old’s race lasted only to the first corner on Sunday courtesy of fellow countryman and ninth place starter Philip Major diving into him under braking. Entering his sophomore season, Toronto’s Hinchcliffe looked to stamp his authority early in the weekend having headed the pack in pre-season testing in February. James failed to disappoint behind the wheel of the #2 Team Moore Racing Dallara-Firestone.
A commanding performance in qualifying saw James once again top the timesheets. With a lead time of 1m06.3497s around the temporary street circuit, ‘Hinch’ captured his first ever Indy Lights pole ahead of J.K. Vernay making his series debut for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
Sunday’s competitors were greeted by far from favorable weather conditions but the Noon race started with the field opting for slick tires. Unfortunately for James, his shot at converting his maiden series pole into a first victory lasted from the start-finish line to the first turn. Comfortably leading the charge into the corner James was unceremoniously punted off track by rookie driver Philip Major. Having started ninth, it was a wildly ambitious shot at the lead by Major as he braked too late to successfully execute the turn – James out on the spot having finished on the podium on his last trip to St. Petersburg.
“Well obviously getting pole yesterday was a great result for the team,” stated Hinchcliffe. “They worked so hard and it was well deserved but unfortunately today we didn’t get a chance to show we had a good car come rain or shine. I’ve never seen a driver miss-judge a braking zone so badly in my whole career.
“It’s a crushing disappoint for the team to not even make it through the first turn, I feel really bad for the guys. You focus on qualifying and getting pole so you can try and avoid being caught up in first-turn incidents! From a positive perspective though we at least know we have a competitive car and we’re looking forward to racing at Barber Motorsports Park next where we were fastest in testing last month!”
France’s J.K. Vernay won the rain-shortened race ahead of Belgium’s Jan Haylen in second and Britain’s Stefan Wilson in third. Round 2 of the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series heads to Birmingham, Alabama and Barber Motorsports Park, Friday 9th - Sunday 11th April - www.indycar.com
Courtesy SM-PR
0 comments:
Post a Comment