PHOTOS: TW Steel / Dario Franchitti / James Hinchcliffe event at La Swiss / Yorkdale Mall

TORONTO, ON - On July 15, Yorkdale Mall's La Swiss store hosted the Canadian launch of the TW Steel Dario Franchitti Limited Edition Watch.

TW Steel is a sponsor of the Renault F1 team, and have also created associations with various motorsports ambassadors, like David Coulthard, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe, to name a few.

At the La Swiss event, for media, clients, and customers, all were able to view the TW Steel Collection, including the Official Dario Franchitti Edition. Dario and James spent time chatting with those at the event and to conduct media interviews, including our own James Neilson. Thank you to Stuart Morrison for the invitation.

Words and photos by Mike Galipeau / Inside Track Motorsport News

Indy Lights in Toronto: Hinch Set for Hometown Happening

Hinch Set for Hometown Happening

Toronto, Canada (July 09, 2009) – They say there’s no place like home and James Hinchcliffe wouldn’t disagree with the famed statement. This weekend sees the 22-year-old return to the streets of his hometown, Toronto, for the ninth round of the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Series, Friday 10th – Saturday 11th July.

Saturday’s ‘Toronto 100’ sees the Sam Schmidt Motorsports racer back in action around the 2.82km temporary street circuit based at Exhibition Place. ‘Hinch’ boasts two previous starts in Toronto, both of which came during his stint in the Atlantic Championship – the Canadian enjoying mixed fortunes, qualifying in the top-ten on both occasions, finishing sixth overall in 2006 and classified 11th in 2007 after contact from behind sidelined the local favorite.

With three podium finishes to his credit in his rookie Indy Lights season, James is looking to put last weekend’s early exit at Watkins Glen firmly behind him. A maiden victory behind the wheel of the #7 HinchTown.Com Dallara-Firestone, on home soil, is the goal for the weekend, Hinchcliffe confident the home support can help bolster his cause in what’s shaping up to be a closely fought Indy Lights battle.

“I’m obviously super excited to come back to Toronto to compete,” stated James. “I really missed not racing here last season and I think this year’s event is set to be one of the best yet. We’ve had a great street course car since the start of the season collecting podiums in St. Petersburg and Long Beach and if anything I think we’ve only made it better since then! Knowing my way around the track certainly isn’t going to hurt but we’ve got plenty of practice so I don’t think it’ll be too much of an advantage over the others.

“Toronto’s always a cool event and I’ve been to every race there since I was 18-months old! Canadian race fans are second to none, they love their motorsport and they always get behind the hometown drivers. There’s no extra pressure despite having more family and friends there, I want to win everywhere and nobody puts more pressure on me to win races than me. I’m looking forward to Saturday!”

If James can succeed in winning an Indy Lights race in Toronto he’ll be in good company. The only two Canadian drivers to have triumphed there previously in the series are Paul Tracy (1990) and Greg Moore (1995) – both racers graduating to the top-flight, and further success, proudly sporting the maple leaf flag.

The ‘Toronto 100’ gets underway on Saturday 11th July at 12:30pm EST followed on Sunday 12th July by the ‘Honda Indy Toronto’ IndyCar Series race at 1pm EST.

Top-6 Indy Lights Drivers – R8/15: 1st Hildebrand (USA) 279pts, 2nd Romancini (BRA) 221pts, 3rd Cunningham (NZ) 216pts, 4th Saavedra (COL) 215pts, 5th Davison (AUS) 206pts, 6th HINCHCLIFFE (CAN) 200pts - www.indycar.com/indylights

ENDS – www.hinchtown.com

Photo Credit – James Hinchcliffe sits sixth heading to his home race in Toronto – Mike Levitt

For further information or interview requests please contact James Hinchcliffe: Email: james@jameshinchcliffe.com

HinchTown.Com 2.0 - New and Improved!

HinchTown.Com 2.0 - New and Improved!

Toronto, Ontario (April 03, 2009) - Rome wasn't built in a day! The same goes for HinchTown.Com 2.0 - the official website of Firestone Indy Lights racer James Hinchcliffe.

After the previous HinchTown was demolished by a band of hungry property developers, a stunning new online metropolis has been built to promote the web-savvy Canadian who'll drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports this season - starting with the opening two rounds hosted on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida this weekend.

Fans of 'Hinch' can expect the same vibrant content from the man himself as he races his way across North America in the official feeder category to the IndyCar Series - the pinnacle of open-wheel racing this side of the Atlantic and the home of Hinch's long-term racing ambitions.

"As the self-appointed Mayor of HinchTown 2.0 I'm looking forward to upholding my civic duty in providing some insightful moments into life competing in the Firestone Indy Lights Series," Hinchcliffe stated.

He continued, "The web offers such a fantastic platform for showcasing all that's great about motorsport and I fully intend to exploit it this season to provide visitors to HinchTown a unique perspective of racing complete with blogs, video clips, photos and of course, and to be serious for just a minute, actual news content!"

To take a wander through the streets of HinchTown, throw away your GPS system and simply log on to www.hinchtown.com

Additional sites of interest: www.indycar.com/indylights / www.samschmidtmotorsports.com / www.wmfc.ca

A1GP: Hinchcliffe's View from the Pits

Montréal, Canada (November 30, 2007) - James Hinchcliffe may not have been racing for A1 Team Canada in last weekend's third round of the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Malaysia but the Toronto-native was no less busy at the Sepang International Circuit. Invited to fulfill the role of pit-lane reporter on behalf of A1GP's world-feed broadcast crew, the 20-year-old happily accepted the challenge of switching from interviewee to interviewer for the weekend.

With race wins in Formula BMW USA, the Star Mazda Championship and the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, not to mention 18 race starts for A1 team Canada in A1GP, Hinchcliffe's a veteran of countless television interviews and while he's already forged a reputation as a commentator on Eurosport covering the Champ Car World Series from the booth, his experiences reporting from the pits in Malaysia were another first for the versatile Canadian.

"I have to say it was really cool to get the opportunity," stated Hinchcliffe. "I'm grateful to A1GP for giving me the chance to help out. They knew I was going to be in Malaysia with A1 Team Canada but wouldn't be racing so they asked if I'd be interested in reporting from the pits and giving my insight when required on what it's like to race an A1GP car."

He continued; "Obviously it's a little different from what I do for the Champ Car commentaries when I'm in a booth and remote from the action but armed with things like timing screens. Last weekend it was a case of being live on the ground in pit-lane and trying to stay on top of what's happening on-track without the aid of monitors or people passing you pieces of information. It was certainly a bit different being there from that perspective and looking for the story but it was a lot of fun!"

One aspect of the weekend's work new to Hinchcliffe, despite his previous TV experience, was the opportunity to interview drivers he regularly competes against in A1GP. While initially a little strange for the Canadian, he felt having the racer's perspective gave him an added advantage in grilling his fellow racers for the cameras.

"I was probably able to get a bit more information out of the drivers when I interviewed them," James reflected. "In turn they were probably a little more candid with me and I think that's what the producers wanted as it makes for good TV. We obviously all know each other pretty well from competing against each other and hanging out together so the interviews were relaxed but informative. That said, it was tough for me not being in the car at the weekend but the TV gig kept me pretty busy and it certainly helped me expand my experience on that side of the business!"

While James worked the pits, A1 Team Canada fielded series rookie Robert Wickens at Sepang, the 18-year-old subsequently scoring the team's first podium and points in the Sprint race.

"We knew the first couple of events for Canada would be tough as the new team came together pretty late," said Hinchcliffe. "We did pretty well all things considered but we knew we'd benefit from the break between Brno and Sepang. The whole team, spearheaded by Simon Cayzer, did a lot of work on the car and we definitely showed up in Malaysia with a much stronger package. Robbie did a fantastic job all weekend, in particular with his qualifying effort for the Sprint race. He really deserved that podium and I'm happy we've now got points on the board and a platform to build on."

Photo Credit: 'Hinchcliffe interviewing Canadian team-mate Robert Wickens in Malaysia' - Jakob Ebrey Photography
Copyright-free A1 Team Canada images are available for download at http://www.a1gp-photo.com/can
From: A1 Team Canada Media Relations: Stuart Morrison - PR & Media Manager