For the second straight year, qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 has not gone well for IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe.
Saturday during qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — which ranks drivers based on the fastest four-lap averages — Hinchcliffe found his No. 5 Honda nearly upside down on his second lap around.
Hinchcliffe isn’t sure what happened as he flew around the 2.5-mile track — guessing maybe his car caught some wind at the wrong angle – but the next thing he knew, he had lost control and slammed into Turn 2. His car flipped sideways and almost completely upside down as flames came off the back and his left front wheel detached.
Thirty-two-year-old Hinchcliffe — who described the disaster as “unfortunate” and a “nightmare” — was cleared after by the infield medical center, but he was “limping slightly”, according to IndyCar.
His opportunity to qualify for the 103rd Indy 500 now hinges on Sunday in his team’s backup car — unless the backup car can get on the track by 5:50 p.m. ET on Saturday for another shot.
Saturday’s qualifying session determines the top-30 cars (of 36 entries) and sets the field for positions 10 through 30. Known as the Fast Nine Shootout, Sunday’s qualifying will be for the pole and for the remaining eight top starting spots.
New this year, what was once known as Bump Day – typically Saturday — has now been combined with Sunday. Positions 31 through 33 will be determined in what’s now being called the Last Row Shootout with three cars not making the cut.
Update: Hinch did make another qualifying attempt in his backup car, but he still placed 32nd and will have to compete in the Last Row Shootout on Sunday.
Hinchcliffe is all too familiar with that. Despite being a full-time IndyCar driver, he was not among the top-33 drivers last season and was bumped from the Indy 500, sparking an industry debate about whether full-time drivers should automatically qualify.
After being cleared by the medical center, Hinchcliffe spoke with NBC. He said:
“The car was on the edge for sure. We were a little loose in (Turns) 3 and 4, but 1 and 2 was solid. … Something just caught me in (Turn) 2. I don’t know if if it was a gust of wind or what. We had been pretty aggressive on the setup and with a gusty day, that’s what happens. But pretty much our nightmare. It’s suboptimal.”
Hinchcliffe’s incident was just one of several crashes this week, forcing drivers to use their backup cars. Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso also crashed this week during practice.
During practice for the Indy 500 back in 2015, Hinchcliffe was in a serious crash, and a piece of the car’s suspension pierced his left thigh as he hit the wall. He missed the rest of the IndyCar season.
