James Hinchcliffe opened his title bid for the 2007 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda by steering his way to a fourth place finish on Sunday (8th April) in the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix. Round 1 s action on the 2.44-mile Las Vegas street circuit was tempered by a total of four caution periods, the stop-start nature of the racing hampering Hinchcliffe s efforts having started the 50-minute race on the front-row alongside fellow-Canadian and pole-sitter Robert Wickens.
James sophomore Atlantic campaign got off to a strong start on Friday afternoon, the 20-year-old from Toronto sealing provisional pole and a guaranteed front-row start for Sunday s race by powering his way to the top of the timesheets in first qualifying. Hinch, competing in the #9 NOCO-ProWorks entry for Sierra Sierra Enterprises, lapped the temporary street course in 1m32.410 (95.055mph) to lead the 27-car field at the end of the first day s running in Las Vegas.
| 
|