Franchitti targets fourth Indy500posted in INDY25 | 05 | 2013
BATHGATE'S DARIO FRANCHITTI aims to make even more history tomorrow when he bids to win the Indianapolis 500 for a fourth time.
Franchitti, who celebrated his 40th birthday last weekend, is going for back-to-back wins in America's Blue Riband race, having dominated it 12 months ago.
"It's the biggest race of my year, every year," Franchitti, who first won in 2007, becoming the first Scot to win the Indy500 since the legendary Jim Clark in 1965, said today.
"In my opinion, it's the greatest race in the world. There's nothing else like it anywhere.
"Two-hundred laps of a 2.5-mile high-speed oval, where you average 228mph in qualifying, and you've always got a very hard wall just inches from your right-hand wheels: now that's racing.
"I think when you compete in the race, you kind of understand a bit about what it means; what it represents, and what it's all about.
"But then when you win it, you have an even deeper understanding of it all. This is the race for me.
"For me, and for the whole Target Ganassi team, we've done it before, so we head into the weekend, not with confidence, but definitely knowing what it takes to get to the finish line first.
"You know the sort of secret code. There's no magic or mystery about it. If you haven't done something before, you always wonder what does it take to get it all together.
"We've done it before, and we're hopeful of doing it again."
And Franchitti isn't fazed by the fact he lines up 17th on the grid in his Honda-powered Target Ganassi car.
"Last year we had a really bad start to the season, and I started 16th on the grid here," he continued, "but the team turned up with their A-game, and delivered.
And Franchitti isn't getting carried away by thoughts of becoming the first driver for 22 years to win at Indy for the fourth time.
"Yeh, it's a pretty small group," Franchitti, whose cousin Paul di Resta contests F1's Blue Riband race, the Monaco Grand Prix just hours before the American race, smiled.
"Only Rick Mears , A.J. Foyt and Al Unser have won here four times, so it would be fantastic to join them in the history books.
"But I'm focusing on the mechanics of making it happen this weekend, and I definitely hope it does, because it's the best feeling in the world."
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Jim McGill