Franchitti returns to Kentucky flyer

Two years after he finished the race with his car spearing towards the sky after colliding with the No55 of Kosuke Matsuura, Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti returns to the Kentucky Speedway for the latest round of the IndyCar Championship.

With qualifying cancelled due to heavy rain and water on the track and championship standings forming the grid, the 36-year-old lines up second alongside his Ganassi team-mate and title leader Scott Dixon.

But Franchitti, who trails the Kiwi — who won the corresponding race 12 months ago — by just three points, is eager not to repeat his exploits of two years ago.

“No, this year I’d like to finish the race with all four wheel on the racetrack,” he said. “The crash with Kosuke was completely my fault; there’s no excuse. I was still racing and didn’t realise it was the checkered flag.

“I got the ‘Hey, it’s a checkered’ just as I was hitting him. Of course, by then it was too late.” Just six days earlier, Franchitti had again walked away uninjured when his car somersaulted at high speed after making contact with Dan Wheldon’s Ganassi car in Michigan.

JM

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