“It’s crazy what changes in a year. What a difference a year makes.”
That’s what James Hinchcliffe told The Andrew Walker Show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Thursday.
At this time last year, the Canadian IndyCar star was laying in a hospital bed recovering from a life-threatening leg injury after a horrific crash during an Indianapolis 500 practice lap.
So when the Oakville, Ont., native won pole position for the 2016 edition of the race by posting a four-lap qualifying average speed of 230.760 mph this past Sunday, it was a remarkable story.
“It’s not just me that gets affected when an accident like last year happens,” Hinchcliffe said. “My entire team, we all went through that together. It was as emotional for those guys as it was for me so to come back here as a team, stronger than ever, and put the car on pole for the 100th running of this race it’s such a testament to the hard work that the crew guys put in building this car, making it slippery, the engineers and the work they put in to get the set-up just perfect to nail four qualifying laps, the work I’ve put in to get to myself back to where I need to be. It’s a massive group effort and it was so rewarding for everybody on the team.”
Despite the severity of his crash and injury, Hinchcliffe’s personality and sense of humour is as bright as ever. He has never been on to shy away from the spotlight, so the fact he’s garnering plenty of much attention this week isn’t a distraction for him.
“It’s pretty cool. It kind of goes without saying. This literally will be the biggest race in the history of earth in terms of attendance, in terms of TV audience,” he said. “The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, there quite literally hasn’t been anything like it and to think little old me sitting in pole position — it’s a pretty cool feeling.
“It’s very special [winning the pole position] because there’s a lot of pride on the line for teams and for the drivers. A lot of drivers will tell you that the four qualifiying laps you run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are some of the most terrifying and some of the most challenging laps that you’ll run all season long.”
The significance of it being a milestone race isn’t lost on him either.
“It’s the Masters, the Super Bowl, the NBA championship, the Stanley Cup and Wimbledon all wrapped into one. It so far transcends our sport. It is the biggest deal in motor racing globally. It doesn’t matter which discipline you’re in, this is a race you know about and this is a race that’s on your bucket list.
“Not a whole lot of sporting events can claim they’ve been running 100 years. Super Bowl just celebrated 50. That’s adorable.
“The fact that this race and this racetrack has the amount of history it does is so hard to describe. If you are the guy or girl lucky enough to leave here Sunda the winner it’s quite literally a life-changing event.”
Hinchcliffe, who started the 2014 race in second but finished 28th, did acknowledge that “where you start the race isn’t necessarily a huge indicator of where you’re going to finish the race,” which means he’ll need to be on his A-game Sunday.
