Canadian Hinchcliffe catches long-awaited break at Honda Indy Toronto

TORONTO — James Hinchcliffe had been waiting to catch a break on home soil for years. On Sunday, it finally happened. 

The Oakville, Ont. native secured his first podium appearance at the Honda Indy Toronto, finishing third — behind winner Will Power and runner-up Helio Castroneves — thanks in large part to a caution on the 81st lap.

“It’s not just that I haven’t had great luck here, it’s that I’ve had insanely bad luck here,” Hinchcliffe said. “Today, finally, we were on the other side of that. … We were able to make it stick on that last restart and finally get a strong result here.”

Debris in Turn 5 caused a Lap 45 caution, allowing Hinchcliffe to make his second pit stop on Lap 47. Then after a Lap 59 caution, Hinchcliffe, who started sixth, found himself in third when the race returned to full course green at Lap 63.

Jack Hawksworth hit the tires to cause the Lap 81 caution, which Hinchcliffe needed in order to conserve fuel and maintain his third-place position.

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“When the yellow came out, that was kind of the big thing,” Hinchcliffe said. “It wasn’t just to make it, it was to have enough (fuel) in the tank to use the overtakes as well. We had two left at the end there and they take up a fair amount of fuel.

“I wasn’t able to use them without that yellow, I wasn’t able to push flat out without that yellow, and so with it we were able to do that and make sure the restart kind of went our way.”

Sunday was Hinchcliffe’s seventh start in Toronto and 10th podium finish overall. He missed last year’s event in Toronto due to his near fatal accident on May 18, 2015 in Indianapolis.

Hinchcliffe, who picked up 35 points in the series standings, became the first Canadian to finish on the podium since Paul Tracy placed second in 2006.

Hinchcliffe set a new personal best at the event, beating his previous eighth-place results from the first races of the 2013 and 2014 events.

“I got a little extra boost seeing the crowd stand up in Turn 11 and I knew that all my family and extended family and friends were sitting on that grandstand,” he said.

“Coming around Turn 11 on that restart, I saw the whole grandstand stand up and cheer and I thought, ‘I can’t screw this up, I can’t let these guys down’ and luckily we were able to hold it off.”

It was the 29-year-old’s second podium of the season. He also finished third at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Dhiren Mahiban, The Canadian Press