Seven days after fracturing his left ankle in a 180mph smash in the Nascar race at Talladega, Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti has spoken publicly about the injury for the first time, and hinted it won’t be long before he’s racing again.
“I feel good,” the 34-year-old said at Richmond International Raceway, where he attended the latest round of the championship to maintain close contact with his Ganassi team. “I’ve been walking around it without the crutches since Monday.
“I went to see the doctors the same day and they told me exactly what’s wrong with it. I’m very lucky the fact, there’s a lot of bruising and stuff but there’s no displacement and there’s a very small fracture so we should be good to get back in the car pretty quick.”
Though Franchitti, last year’s Indy500 winner and IndyCar champ, can’t confirm when he will return to action, he explained it will all depend on how quickly he feels comfortable when applying pressure on his left ankle. The most intense pressure comes when he needs at least to shift gears when leaving or entering the pits.
“Basically it’s going to be up to me when I feel comfortable getting back in the car,” he continued. “I’m going to talk to the guys on the team today and we’ll see about that. I would say pretty soon.
“I have a carbon-fibre brace that I’m getting made back in Indianapolis. I’ve got to go back there on Monday and have that fitted so hopefully soon we’ll be back in the car. Really, I think it’s going to be about comfort and how hard I can push the pedal.”
JM