Dario Franchitti
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Dario Franchitti (b. 19 May 1973 in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland) is a Scottish race car driver of Italian extraction, is a competitor in the IndyCar series and formerly a driver in the CART series.
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[edit] Career history
[edit] Early career
After finishing his education where he was a pupil of Stewart's Melville College, his racing career commenced. Dario began his racing careers in karts winning the 1984 Scottish Junior Championship, British Junior Championships in 1985 and 1986 and the Scottish senior title in 1988. Having progressed to Formula Vauxhall Junior he won the championship with 4 victories in 1991. Moving up to Formula Vauxhall Lotus in 1992 with Paul Stewart Racing saw Dario finish 4th in the overall championship and he showed sufficient promise to be named the McLaren/Autosport Young Driver of the Year. He won the championship in 1993.
He graduated to the British Formula Three Championship in 1994 finishing fourth in the championship having won one race, however he was not retained for 1995 and was therefore forced to look away from single seater racing, picking up a drive in the German Touring Car Championship and the related International Touring Car Championship finishing 5th and 3rd respectively. He continued in the ITCC in 1996 finishing fourth overall with one race win.
[edit] American Open Wheel Racing
Dario made his US debut for Hogan Racing in 1997 with a best finish of ninth place. He then joined Team Green, the forerunner to Andretti Green Racing, in 1998 and finished 3rd in the season standings having recorded 3 wins and 5 pole positions.
Franchitti finished as the runner-up in the 1999 CART series behind Juan Pablo Montoya. Both drivers finished the season with a score of 212 points, but Montoya had more wins in the year (seven to Franchitti's three) and was thus crowned champion. Franchitti's close friend Greg Moore died in a crash during the final race of the year.
A heavy crash in pre-season testing the next year ruined his 2000 season, and he only won once in 2001, before finishing 4th in Champ Car in 2002. In 2002 he won one of the last Vanouver Molson Indy's. He dedicated his win to Greg Moore, a local racing hero in Vancouver who died in 1999 in a race in California.
Franchitti moved with the Andretti/Green team to the IndyCar Series in 2003 but his season was ended by a back injury sustained in a motorcycle accident while on holiday in Scotland. Franchitti missed most of the year, and his place was taken by Dan Wheldon at Motegi, Robby Gordon at Indianapolis and Bryan Herta for the remainder of the year. Franchitti returned to the cockpit in 2004, and won races at Milwaukee and Pikes Peak.
On August 31, 2006, SPEED reported that Dario Franchitti will be returning to the Champ Car World Series to replace the injured Cristiano Da Matta in the #10 RuSPORT car for the final three races of the Champ Car circuit [1] however no deal was ever done with that drive being eventually given to Ryan Briscoe.
On January 3, 2007, Andretti Green Racing announced that Dario had re-signed for the IRL team for a tenth consecutive season in American Open Wheel racing. He will also undertake a limited programme driving an Acura-powered Courage in the American Le Mans Series, teaming up with long-time AGR team-mate Bryan Herta and Dario's brother, Marino Franchitti. [2]
[edit] Personal
Franchitti has been married to American actress Ashley Judd since 2001. The ceremony was held at Skibo Castle near Dornoch, Scotland. They now reside near Franklin, Tennessee, USA.
[edit] American Open Wheel results
[edit] CART Champ Car career
| Year | Team | Wins | Points | Championship Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Hogan Racing | 0 | 10 | 22nd |
| 1998 | Team Green | 3 | 160 | 3rd |
| 1999 | Team Green | 3 | 212 | 2nd |
| 2000 | Team Green | 0 | 92 | 13th |
| 2001 | Team Green | 1 | 105 | 7th |
| 2002 | Andretti Green Racing | 3 | 148 | 4th |
10 wins, best championship finish: 2nd
[edit] IndyCar career
| Year | Team | Wins | Points | Championship Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Andretti Green Racing | 0 | 11 | 44th |
| 2003 | Andretti Green Racing | 0 | 72 | 25th |
| 2004 | Andretti Green Racing | 2 | 409 | 6th |
| 2005 | Andretti Green Racing | 2 | 498 | 4th |
| 2006 | Andretti Green Racing | 0 | 311 | 8th |
4 wins, best championship finish: 4th
[edit] Indy 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 28th | 19th |
| 2004 | Dallara | Honda | 3rd | 14th |
| 2005 | Dallara | Honda | 6th | 6th |
| 2006 | Dallara | Honda | 17th | 7th |
