Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti was third-fastest in pre-qualifying ahead of Sunday’s latest round of the IndyCar Championship at the Lexington street course in Mid-Ohio.
The 36-year-old Scot, currently third in the championship just 11 points adrift of leader, Australian Ryan Briscoe, lapped the 2.5-mile circuit in 1min 08.6760secs. Franchitti was 0.4462s slower than the provisional pole time set by his Ganassi team-mate Scott Dixon.
“There’s more to come from both myself and the car,” Franchitti, who set the lap record on the street circuit in 1999, said today, “so I’m confident we can bag the win we need.
“Overtaking here is almost impossible, which is a shame, so it’s crucial we get the car right and qualify on the front row. From there I know we can win if the car stays reliable and we get everything right with our pitstops and strategy.”
While Penske ace Briscoe — who won last weekend in Kentucky — struggled to seventh-fastest, England’s Justin Wilson found himself sandwiched between the two Ganassi drivers in second place, just o,0335s quicker than Franchitti.
Meanwhile, younger brother Marino, who won the LMP2 class in the previous round at Lime Rock, qualified third-fastest for the latest round of the American Le Mans Series at Mid-Ohio.
The 30-year-old, partnered by Butch Leitzinger in their Dyson-Lola-Mazda, were just 0.578s slower than the Acura of polesitter and championship leaders Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez.
JM