Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti made a dazzling return to IndyCar action when he topped the timesheets in the opening free-practice session ahead of Sunday’s season-opener at St Petersburg in Florida.
The 35-year-old Scot, driving his Ganassi Target IndyCar 12 months after pursuing an ultimately frustrating and disappointing new career in Nascar, lapped the 1.8-mile street circuit in 1min 04.503secs.
Franchitti, the 2007 IndyCar champ and Indy500 winner, outpaced his Kiwi team-mate and defending champ Scott Dixon by 0.645s.
“It’s great to be back,” Franchitti said today. “Nascar was a great experience which, for one reason or another, didn’t work out the way I had intended, but boy I’m pleased be back in IndyCars.
“St. Pete is a track that I really enjoy,” Franchitti, who finished third at the circuit last time out in 2007, continued. “We’ve run well there in the past, but we always seem to run into bad luck for some crazy reason.
“But it’s a fun track…three quarters of it is a proper street course and the other part is an airport runway. What that does is provide a really good passing opportunity going into Turn 1 at the end of the front stretch. Hopefully we can start the season with a win.”
Franchitti starts the 18-race season — which finishes at Homestead-Miami in October — as one of the favourites, alongside Dixon, to win the championship.
JM