IndyCar: Hinchcliffe will return to cockpit at Elkhart Lake
James Hinchcliffe's remarkable return to the cockpit of a Verizon IndyCar Series car is set for next Monday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Hinchcliffe nearly bled to death when he was involved in a serious crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 18. As he was preparing for the 99th Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe's Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Chevrolet slammed hard into the Turn 3 wall and a suspension rod impaled the driver in his lower torso.
The driver from Oakville, Ontario lost a massive amount of blood but was saved by the Holmatro Safety Team. He was rushed into emergency surgery at IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
Hinchcliffe has made a rapid recovery and Monday's test at Road America will be the first time he has returned to his ride since the crash.
"I expect to be grinning like an idiot for the first few runs," Hinchcliffe said. "This is obviously the day that has been the goal and the motivation to get through the last four months. And the fact that it is at Road America, one of my favorite road courses in the country, makes it that much better."
Hinchcliffe won last April's Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park -- one of his five 2015 starts before the near-fatal crash.
Hinchcliffe drove the Honda Two-Seater IndyCar across the Golden Gate Bridge along with the championship contenders for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series title on Aug. 27. That was a planned promotional event for the Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma and turned into a memorial tribute to the late Justin Wilson, who was killed in a crash at Pocono Raceway on Aug. 23.
Monday will be the first test in competitive IndyCar since his crash on May 18.
"I'm under no illusions that it won't be a massively difficult day," said Hinchcliffe, who will enter his second season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2016. "Going to a track we haven't run, on top of the physical stress of getting back in (a car), but that's OK. I'm definitely ready for a little hard work."
In August 2005, Hinchcliffe won the Pro Mazda race at Road America. He also has competed at the track in the Atlantic Championship (2006-08) and last year co-drove a Daytona Prototype during the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race weekend.
Ryan Briscoe and Conor Daly shared Hinchcliffe's Honda during the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season.
"It's obviously huge for me to be in this position to get back behind the wheel," Hinchcliffe said. "It's been tough being out of the car but the support from everyone has been incredible. I can't thank my family, the team, my doctors, Ric Peterson (co-owner) and Sam, Ryan and Conor and the whole IndyCar community enough. I just want to put in a productive effort for the team and hopefully I haven't forgotten how to pedal one of these things."
Team co-owner Sam Schmidt has seen the remarkable progress Hinchcliffe has made during his recovery and expects the driver to be highly competitive next season.
"This has been a long time coming, but we are extremely pleased that James has made a full recovery and will be testing at Road America in the Arrow No. 5 car," Schmidt said. "All of us appreciate the incredible amount of support James and SPM have received from the motorsports community throughout this process. We are now more confident than ever that this team can be ready and compete for the Championship in 2016. This is the first step in that process."
Other teams and drivers scheduled to participate in the test include Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport, Tristan Vautier of Dale Coyne Racing and Sebastien Bourdais of KVSH Racing.
It will be the second time in one week that teams from the Verizon IndyCar Series have tested at the 4.048-mile Road American Course. Ten drivers including four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon tested at Elkhart Lake on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
"It's good to be back here, but quite strange coming back to such a large track," said Dixon, who had last driven an Indy car at Road America in 2002. "The race itself should be pretty good and racing here is the heart of American road racing."
Graham Rahal finished third in his only Indy car start at the track in 2007. He was impressed by the cornering speeds the current Verizon IndyCar Series' package produced on the track.
"You forget how fast it is and in these cars, it's very quick," Rahal said. "Today I've been surprised at the way the car pulled down the straights. I thought that was going to be the weak link. Our best lap time versus (when I was here in) 2007, we're not that far off."
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