Hinchcliffe to Race to the Front for Charity

Toronto, Ontario April 1, 2009: Canada’s James Hinchcliffe will make his race debut in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship this weekend as the 2009 title-fight gets underway with a double-header opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th April.

The 22-year-old Ontario native, competing for three-time title winning outfit Sam Schmidt Motorsports, is no stranger to victory circle and the podium but now leading laps this season in Indy Lights will have an extra meaning for the Canadian.

Hinchcliffe announced today his alignment with the Waldenstroms Macroglobulinemia Foundation of Canada (WMFC) and pledges to donate five dollars for every lap the #7 Hinchtown.Com entry leads throughout his entire 2009 campaign. The selection of the WMFC was an easy one for Hinchcliffe as it holds special meaning for him.

“Waldenstroms Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a very rare blood cancer that my Grandfather passed away from over ten years ago. Being such a rare condition it doesn’t get a ton of attention and I have always wanted to do something to help the foundation raise money to find new treatments,” Hinchcliffe commented.

He will carry the WMFC logo on his Indy Lights car this season while including a link to a WMFC donation page on his website – the soon to be re-launched, www.hinchtown.com

When asked if the partnership will lead to fans donating, James said; “I certainly hope so! For me it was only ever the last lap that was important but now every other lap out front will mean something for everyone with WM. I wanted to do this, to give something to the Foundation and if anyone else ends up making a donation as a result, no matter how big or small, that would just be an incredible bonus.”