Canada’s James Hinchcliffe will make his race debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series this weekend, the 24-year-old from Toronto competing for Newman/Haas Racing in the ‘Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama’, Friday 8th – Sunday 10th April, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Hinchcliffe, the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series Runner-up, will enjoy backing from Mr. Eric Sprott and leading Canadian asset manager, Sprott Inc., to compete in North America’s premier open-wheel racing category having impressed in a host of winter tests for eight-time series champions, Newman/Haas Racing.
The Toronto-headquartered Sprott Inc., founded by Oakville-based Eric Sprott, is a leading independent asset manager dedicated to achieving superior returns for its clients. The company currently operates through four business units: “Sprott Asset Management L.P.”, “Sprott Private Wealth L.P.”, “Sprott Consulting L.P.” and Sprott U.S. Holdings Inc.”
James will now campaign the Sprott Newman/Haas Racing-entered Dallara-Firestone-Honda in the IZOD IndyCar Series, starting with Sunday’s race at the scenic 2.38-mile permanent road course at Barber Motorsports Park.
“I’m extremely excited to be making my IZOD IndyCar Series debut this weekend,” enthused Hinchcliffe. “I’m thrilled to have the support of Mr. Sprott and Sprott Inc. behind me, not least as they’re a Canadian company but they also believe in supporting Canada’s top athletes. I’d personally like to thank Eric Sprott for his backing and my thanks go to everyone at Newman/Haas Racing as well. We had a great winter program culminating in a strong test at Barber a few weeks ago.
“While I enjoyed being with the team on the pit-wall at St. Petersburg for the opening round, there’s no substitute for being in the car. I’m looking forward to being teamed again with Oriol Servia and hopefully we can replicate our form from the final test at Barber. It’ll be a great moment to take the start in an IndyCar race. It’s always been a goal of mine to race in the series. This weekend’s debut is the culmination of a lot of hard work from many people and in particular my family since I started karting all those years ago.”
Sprott Inc. founder, Eric Sprott, is equally enthusiastic to be supporting Hinchcliffe’s IndyCar Series campaign.
Mr. Sprott commented; “We’re obviously a results-driven company so we share James’ drive and determination to deliver. Personally speaking, I’m very pleased that we are supporting a stand-out Canadian athlete but I also see James as a very sound investment opportunity. He’s been successful at every level of competition and certainly based on his recent test outings, he’s shown he can compete with the best in the IndyCar Series. We look forward to developing our relationship this year and supporting James as he drives for Newman/Haas Racing.”
Round 2 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series, the ‘Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama’, hosted at Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, is set for 3pm ET on Sunday 10th April. The 2011 IndyCar Series schedule includes two stops in Canada, the ‘Honda Indy Toronto’, Sunday 10th July, and the ‘Edmonton Indy’, Sunday 24th July - www.indycar.com
