MONTEREY, Calif. — James Hinchcliffe returned to the Monterey Festival of Speed with his old team and captured the victory in the Atlantic Championship Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway.
Making his return with Forsythe-Pettit Racing, Hinchcliffe kept his No. 3 Indeck/TireRack.com machine at the front of the field and held on for a 2.391-second victory over Carl Skerlong.
It was Hinchcliffe’s first win since the Atlantic event at Portland in 2006, a span of 23 races. The win also moved Hinchcliffe into the lead in the Atlantic Championship standings by two points over Simona De Silvestro, 44-42.
Skerlong, racing with Pacific Coast Motorsports, finished second after being overtaken by Hinchcliffe on a lap-seven restart as the two drove into turn two.
Junior Strous, driving the No. 6 entry for Condor Motorsports-Team Holland, completed the podium.