Hinchcliffe: "I just assume it will go poorly" - MotorSportsTalk

TORONTO – One thing the “Mayor of Hinchtown” – Canada’s lone full-time Verizon IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe – has in spades is a self-deprecating sense of humor.

Hinchcliffe heads into Toronto this weekend looking to break his duck, where seemingly everything other than a cartoon anvil has struck him in eight prior starts between IndyCar, Indy Lights and Formula Atlantic at his home race.

A third place in the 2009 Indy Lights race, behind then Andretti Autosport drivers Sebastian Saavedra and JR Hildebrand, marks his only podium finish in Toronto.

“I just assume it will go poorly,” Hinchcliffe joked Thursday, during his media availability ahead of the weekend.

“I had an engine problem in contention for a podium in ’12. I got turfed by PT in ’11… although it’s kinda cool getting punted by a Canadian legend who’s known for that. I didn’t even start last year in race two because I stalled on the grid.”

With a quote that’s bound to inspire his engineer, Nathan O’Rourke, of his No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda to want to pummel Hinch, he said the luck simply has to change.

“Maybe there’s nothing left to happen,” Hinch said. “My engineer will hate me saying that. I’ll get hit by a meteor now or something.”

Although Hinchcliffe has had great pace all season, for whatever reason there’s been a litany of moments that have cost him a decent result. Fifth twice (Detroit 2, Houston 1) marks his best result.

“No doubt it’s frustrating,” he said, as he enters the weekend 11th in points. “We’ve done a good job and had good pace. The results don’t match the effort. Its just been one of those years.”

Seventeen different drivers have scored podiums this season, and Hinch would add to that tally if and when he breaks through. He hasn’t said the field’s competitiveness was a reason why they haven’t got that result yet, though.

“I don’t think that’s part of it, to be honest,” he said. “It wasn’t that we got passed by others. It’s just more timing of yellows falling against us. Or at a place like Iowa, we lost the balance.”

Regardless of the struggles, Hinchcliffe remains thankful to the Canadians fans for support. He’s the sole Canadian driver in the Honda Indy 2 in Toronto, which is the first such occasion of just one Canuck since 1990.

“It means the world to me,” he said. “There’s been an incredible amount of support, and it’s the same this year with it being a tough year as it was last year when I came in here with three wins.

“Toronto and Canadian fans? They’re not bandwagoners. They’ll still support you.”

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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Hinchcliffe: “I just assume it will go poorly”

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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