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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 23 | Thursday, July 18, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Hometown curse haunts Hinch by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff As the cars whipped past him, James Hinchcliffe was reduced to the same role as the masses of supporters who came to see him race. He was a spectator -- albeit with the coolest seat on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, inside the cockpit of a car capable of going 250 kilometres an hour. That only added to the frustration that his car was stationary for the first three laps as Sunday's race went on without him. Around him, his crew frantically worked to replace a throttle that stuck just as the cars were readying to pull out of pit row to get the second leg of the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader underway. And in those moments, Hinchcliffe's run of bad luck in his hometown race morphed into a full-on curse. "It's Toronto, of course it's going to happen here," said Hinchcliffe, sounding slighty defeated and certainly a little tired after finishing his second race in two days. "It's the only place I have any sort of mechanical problems. There's always some freak thing. Last year with the engine and then today -- it's not during practice, it's not during qualifying, it's right as the race is about to begin." Even in his Toronto IndyCar debut in 2011, Hinchcliffe was sixth before tangling with fellow Canadian Paul Tracy, a run-in that left him with a flat tire and dropped him to a 14th-place finish. The Oakville native's version of good luck in Toronto was not suffering a similar fate Saturday. Running seventh, Ed Carpenter ran into the back of Hinchcliffe on a late restart. That cost him a couple of positions but it could have been much worse. Smoke billowed from the back left tire of the green GoDaddy car for the next lap but he was able to continue without pitting and went on to finish eighth, his best-ever result in Toronto since joining the big leagues. Of the nine tracks where Hinchcliffe has raced three times, there There would be no checkered flag for Oakville's James Hinchcliffe this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader. After a steady drive led him to eighth on Saturday, his throttle stuck as Sunday's race was about to begin, relegating him to a 21st-place finish. Despite his continued back luck in the Toronto race, Hinchcliffe remained a fan favourite.| Eric Riehl -- Oakville Beaver See Run on p. 24 are only two where he has not cracked the top six -- Toronto and Detroit, the two closest to his hometown. Sunday started with promise as Hinchcliffe was fifth fastest in the morning practice session. And he was one of the few drivers who was actually looking forward to IndyCar's first standing start, having experience with them from his Atlantic ChampCar days. But a top-10 finish was out of reach as soon as the green flag dropped with the No. 27 car still stuck on pit row. Starting three laps down, his only chance to gain position was to hope for multiple crashes, a common occurrence on the Toronto track. Instead, the yellow flag came out only three times, twice for single-car accidents, and once more on the second last lap when it was too late to gain any further positions. With no cars on the same lap, Insurance advice for your life. And everything in it. At RBC Insurance®, we offer : RBC Insurance stores near you: At Prince Michael Dr. off Dundas At Cornwall and Trafalgar On Appleby Line near Dundas 905-257-8200 905-815-8121 905-332-2551 Insurance to meet your needs: car, home, life, health, travel, business and retirement Advice from professional, licensed insurance advisors to help you choose the right coverage to help save you time and money Security in knowing you're dealing with a brand you can trust To get a quote or for more information, call 1-800-ROYAL-68 (1-800-769-2568), go online at rbcinsurance.com or visit an RBC Insurance store. Home, auto and travel insurance is underwritten by RBC General Insurance Company. Life and health insurance is underwritten by RBC Life Insurance Company. ® / TM Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. As a result of government run auto insurance plans, RBC Insurance does not provide auto insurance in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. TM