118 Facts About Dario Franchitti

George Dario Marino Franchitti was born on 19 May 1973 and is a British motorsport commentator and retired motor racing driver from Scotland, who won the IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship four times in 2007,2009,2010 and 2011, the Indianapolis 500 three times in 2007,2010 and 2012 and the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona driving for Andretti Green Racing and later Chip Ganassi Racing.

Dario Franchitti debuted in Championship Auto Racing Teams with Hogan Racing for the 1997 season.

Dario Franchitti joined Team Green the following year and finished third in the championship with three victories.

Dario Franchitti finished second in the 1999 season after tying Juan Pablo Montoya on points and him winning four fewer races than Montoya.

Dario Franchitti's form declined over the next three years, but he won four races.

Dario Franchitti joined the renamed AGR team in the Indy Racing League in 2003, but injury limited him to only three races that year.

Dario Franchitti won two races in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, finishing fourth and sixth overall.

Dario Franchitti won his first IndyCar Drivers' Championship in 2007 with four victories, including his first Indianapolis 500 win, before joining CGR for the following year's NASCAR programme.

Dario Franchitti returned to IndyCar in 2009, winning three consecutive championships from 2009 to 2011 as well as 12 more races, including the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

Dario Franchitti's form deteriorated during the 2012 championship as he struggled to adapt to a new car, but he won his third Indianapolis 500.

Dario Franchitti competed in 265 races in American open-wheel car racing, winning 31 and finishing on the podium 92 times.

Dario Franchitti has been inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and was named the 2007 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.

Dario Franchitti was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland on 19 May 1973.

Dario Franchitti is the son of Inverness-born Tourist Board employee Marina Franchitti, and ice cream parlour owner and amateur racing driver George Franchitti, Franchitti is of Italian descent, and all three of his Italian grandparents originate from the town of Cassino in Italy.

When Dario Franchitti was eight years old, the family moved to Whitburn from Bathgate.

Dario Franchitti was educated at Edinburgh's fee-paying Stewart's Melville College, where he did not feel at ease due to its traditionalism and teaching of cricket and rugby union to maintain physical fitness.

When he was three years old, Dario Franchitti received a Honda-powered go-kart.

Dario Franchitti wanted to be a racing driver ever since his father took him to the West of Scotland Kart Club and other kart tracks at a young age.

Dario Franchitti started racing at the West of Scotland Kart Club and tracks in the North of Scotland, and he tested at Knockhill near Dunfermline.

At the age of 11, Dario Franchitti won the Scottish Junior Championship in 1984 and the British Junior Karting Championships in 1985 and 1986.

Dario Franchitti retired from the 1987 Karting World Championship final after colliding with Luca Badoer.

Dario Franchitti raced part-time in the 1990 British Senior Kart Series.

Dario Franchitti's father remortgaged the family home to pay for his racing.

Dario Franchitti won the championship with four victories and three podium finishes.

Dario Franchitti finished fourth overall in the 1992 Formula Vauxhall Lotus Championship, with multiple second and third-place finishes for PSR.

Dario Franchitti became a racing school instructor the following year and earned money running circuit days for BMW and Nissan.

Dario Franchitti had six victories, four podium finishes and was named the series' Driver of the Year.

Dario Franchitti raced in the Silverstone round of the British Formula Three Championship that same year, finishing fifth in a PSR Reynard 933-Mugen Honda.

Dario Franchitti finished fourth overall with 133 points in a PSR Dallara F394-Mugen Honda, a single victory at Silverstone, and six top-three finishes after errors prevented him from challenging for the title, after errors prevented him from challenging for the title.

Dario Franchitti finished 12th at the 1994 Masters of Formula 3 at Circuit Zandvoort and sixth at the 1994 Macau Grand Prix.

Dario Franchitti did not have enough money to progress to Formula 3000 and did not do another season in F3 as expected because he did not want to incur more debt.

Dario Franchitti drove a Mercedes C-Class V6 equipped with an anti-lock braking system and traction control as part of the AMG-Mercedes team, Mercedes-Benz's sports car competition division.

Dario Franchitti competed in the 1995 DTM and the 1995 ITC.

Dario Franchitti rejected the offer of a seven-year contract from McLaren owner Ron Dennis to test McLaren's F1 cars during the week while he competed in CART on weekends and replaced one of the team's drivers if they were injured.

Dario Franchitti scored points in three more races, and the Molson Indy Toronto saw him claim his maiden CART pole position.

Dario Franchitti was 22nd in the Drivers' Championship with 10 points and was third in the Rookie of the Year standings.

In late 1997, Dario Franchitti signed a two-year minimum contract to drive for Team Green from the 1998 season after impressing team owner Barry Green with his abilities.

Dario Franchitti took six top-ten finishes, including a second-place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and qualified on pole position at the Rio 400, the Molson Indy Toronto and the Miller Lite 200 in the season's first 13 races.

Dario Franchitti followed up by finishing second at the Honda Indy 300 but lost the runner-up spot to Jimmy Vasser when his engine failed at the season-ending Marlboro 500 and Vasser won the race.

Dario Franchitti was advised by his manager Craig Pollock to remain in CART to gain more experience and rejected an offer to join Stewart Grand Prix in F1.

Dario Franchitti took seven top-ten finishes in the first ten races.

Dario Franchitti led all the Molson Indy Toronto to win and took the championship lead from Juan Pablo Montoya after winning the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix two races later.

Dario Franchitti won the season's penultimate round, the Honda Indy 300 from pole position, to enter the season-ending Marlboro 500 nine points ahead of Montoya.

Dario Franchitti had to finish third in California to win the title but would lose on count-back if he and Montoya finished with the same number of points.

Dario Franchitti finished the race in tenth and Montoya fourth but lost the championship on tiebreak to Montoya who had won seven races to Franchitti's three.

Dario Franchitti's performance deteriorated due to a lack of testing, a pre-season switch of personnel, and drove an unreliable car he occasionally crashed.

Dario Franchitti was retained by Team Green for the 2001 season after signing a contract extension with the team in August 2000.

Dario Franchitti concluded the season seventh in the championship standings with 105 points.

Dario Franchitti led the final 15 laps of the Molson Indy Vancouver after teammate Paul Tracy's pit stop for fuel and tyres in his first victory of the season.

Three races later, Dario Franchitti led 43 laps to win the Molson Indy Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve starting from second.

Dario Franchitti won in the Sure for Men Rockingham 500 at Rockingham Motor Speedway in his only CART oval track victory two races later.

Dario Franchitti finished the season's final four races within the top ten to place fourth in the Drivers' Championship with 148 points.

Dario Franchitti made his debut in CART's rival, the Indy Racing League, in the 2002 IRL season, driving Team Green's one-off No 27 Dallara IR02-Chevrolet Indy V8 entry for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the team located funding for the programme.

Dario Franchitti changed his driving style to handle the lighter and more responsive normally-aspirated V8 engined car on short oval circuits, and improved his hand-eye-foot coordination.

Dario Franchitti was replaced variously by Dan Wheldon, Gordon and Bryan Herta in the following three races.

Dario Franchitti finished a season-best fourth in the Honda Indy 225 at Pikes Peak International Raceway before requiring season-ending keyhole surgery to make his back stronger.

Dario Franchitti was replaced by Herta for the rest of the season.

Dario Franchitti extended his contract to remain at AGR for the 2004 IndyCar Series.

Dario Franchitti achieved his maiden IndyCar pole position in the Bombardier 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway and finished the race in second place.

Dario Franchitti went on to claim his second series victory in the Honda Indy 225 at Pikes Peak three races after that.

Dario Franchitti returned to drive for AGR in the 2005 championship after signing a one-year contract extension in January 2005 for a four-car team.

At the season's conclusion, Dario Franchitti almost declined an opportunity during negotiations to sign a one-year contract extension because he was thinking of either a career change or retirement since he had attained sub-par results in IndyCar but remained at AGR for the 2006 season.

Dario Franchitti's performance declined after Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing became more developed when IndyCar used only Honda engines, and AGR underperformed on short high-speed oval tracks.

Dario Franchitti took pole position for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg street course race where suspension failure after colliding with Kosuke Matsuura's damaged car eliminated him from contention.

Dario Franchitti was eighth in the points standings with 311 points.

Dario Franchitti commenced the year finishing the opening four races no lower than seventh with podium finishes at Motegi and Kansas Speedway.

Dario Franchitti took two pole positions at Michigan International Speedway and Infineon Raceway and four top-three finishes over the next seven races to enter the season-concluding Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 three points ahead of CGR's Scott Dixon.

Dario Franchitti won his first IndyCar championship with the race victory after Dixon's car ran out of fuel on the final lap.

Dario Franchitti considered joining NASCAR but discussions with CGR team owner Chip Ganassi and Richard Childress Racing owner Richard Childress did not result in a race seat.

Dario Franchitti was enrolled onto an stock car development programme entailing ARCA and the Busch Series events as well as testing.

Dario Franchitti's season-best finish was a 22nd place in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville and his best qualifying performance was seventh in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Dario Franchitti fell outside the top 35 in the points standings that he had inherited from the preceding season and was required to qualify on speed from the sixth race onwards, due to an noncompetitive car owning to his team's not mastering the Car of Tomorrow or beating other major NASCAR teams.

Dario Franchitti's best series finish was a fifth place at the Zippo 200 at the Glen at Watkins Glen International, where he started from pole position.

Dario Franchitti thought of returning to IndyCar while spectating the 2008 Indianapolis 500 and signed a multi-year contract with CGR to replace Wheldon from the 2009 season.

Dario Franchitti wanted to join CGR's No 41 NASCAR Cup Series team before being reminded of the capability of IndyCars.

Dario Franchitti finished no lower than seventh in the next three races and took pole position for the Bombardier Learjet 550.

Dario Franchitti won Iowa Corn Indy 250 for his second victory of 2009.

Dario Franchitti led 45 laps of the Honda Indy Toronto from pole position to win.

Dario Franchitti took three more top six finishes before leading the entire Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma from pole position in his fourth win of 2009.

Dario Franchitti won the race from pole position for his second championship title, finishing the year 11 points ahead of Dixon.

Dario Franchitti returned to CGR to defend his title in the 2010 season.

At the season-opening Sao Paulo Indy 300, Dario Franchitti took pole position and finished the rain-interrupted event in seventh.

Dario Franchitti was third in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park and second in the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas.

Dario Franchitti achieved consecutive podium finishes in both the Honda Indy Toronto and the Honda Indy Edmonton over the following five races.

At the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Dario Franchitti started fourth and led 94 laps to win the event.

Dario Franchitti finished third in both the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama and the following Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach before winning the first of the Firestone Twin 275s at Texas after leading 110 laps.

Dario Franchitti led 161 laps of the Milwaukee 225 from pole position in his third victory of the season and won the Honda Indy Toronto two races later.

The race was abandoned following a 15-car accident on the 11th lap that involved Power and caused Wheldon's death, meaning Dario Franchitti took his fourth championship win and third in succession.

Dario Franchitti drove for CGR for the 2012 season and initially struggled to adapt to the new Dallara DW12 car before becoming more competitive from the season's fourth event that was held in Sao Paulo.

Dario Franchitti took two top-ten finishes in the season's opening four rounds, placing tenth at Barber and fifth in Sao Paulo.

Dario Franchitti was leading the race on the final lap when Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Takuma Sato crashed into the barrier in an unsuccessful attempt to overtake Dario Franchitti on the inside into turn one.

Dario Franchitti was seventh in the Drivers' Championship with 363 points.

Dario Franchitti achieved another ten top-ten finishes and took pole position three more times during the remaining fifteen events he participated with a season-best finish of third at each of the Pocono IndyCar 400, the first Honda Indy Toronto race, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio and the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

Dario Franchitti placed tenth in the final championship standings with 418 points.

Dario Franchitti has worked for CGR as an advisor and driver coach to each of the team's racers since the 2014 IndyCar Series, on a plan devised by him and Ganassi, with a particular focus on coaching and mentoring young drivers.

Dario Franchitti did not want to be a team owner as he believed the financial risks that owners took were too great.

Dario Franchitti cancelled a planned entry to the 1999 Rally GB held that November due to a scheduling conflict.

In July 2000, Dario Franchitti took part in a two-day test session for the Jaguar F1 team in its R1 car at Silverstone.

Dario Franchitti made his endurance racing debut at the 2005 24 Hours of Daytona of the Rolex Sports Car Series, sharing Howard-Boss Motorsports's No 2 Pontiac Crawford DP03 entry with Milka Duno, Marino Franchitti and Wheldon.

Dario Franchitti won the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona with Montoya, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, completing 695 laps in the No 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley-Lexus car.

Dario Franchitti partnered David Brabham and Scott Sharp in Highcroft Racing's No 9 Acura ARX-01B LMP2 entry at the 2008 Petit Le Mans, retiring after 16 laps when Sharp crashed the car.

Dario Franchitti raced alongside Brabham and Sharp at Highcroft Racing, sharing the No 9 Acura ARX-02a Le Mans Prototype 1 car for both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans, retiring with transmission failure at Sebring and finishing sixth at Road Atlanta.

Dario Franchitti entered the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Dixon, Jamie McMurray and Montoya at CGRFS in a Riley MkXX-BMW vehicle in 2010, finishing 37th due to mechanical failure.

Dario Franchitti returned to the 24 Hours of Daytona in both 2011 and 2012 alongside Dixon, McMurray and Montoya at CGRFS, coming second and fourth respectively in the No 2 Riley-BMW entry.

Plans for Dario Franchitti to drive a Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 vehicle at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans upon retiring from IndyCar after 2014 that were initiated by Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber and to race in the all-electric Formula E series failed to come to fruition due to his career-ending injuries in Houston in 2013.

Dario Franchitti volunteered for the Bethany Christian Trust charity in Edinburgh as a van driver delivering food and drink to the homeless, and the Mission Motorsport charity supporting the rehabilitation and employment of former military personnel, frequently through sport.

Dario Franchitti appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson three times each in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Dario Franchitti made a cameo appearance as a racing driver in the 2001 film Driven.

Dario Franchitti voiced a Scottish news anchor and a male tourist in the 2013 animated film Turbo, for which he provided technical consultation.

Dario Franchitti has served as a television co-commentator and driver pundit on Formula E's world feed since its inaugural season in 2014.

In 2019, Dario Franchitti and Take That band member Howard Donald co-presented the four-part Channel 4 television motoring series Mission Ignition.

Dario Franchitti has worked in development for Acura and Gordon Murray Automotive, two high-performance car manufacturers.

Dario Franchitti is a member of the "Brat Pack", an international group of CART drivers composed of Kanaan, Greg Moore, and Max Papis who shared an energetic desire for enjoyment, attending all-night parties, discussing life, and staying in close contact with one another.

Dario Franchitti has since remarried to hedge fund executive Eleanor Robb.

Dario Franchitti received the Autosport British Club Driver of the Year in 1993 and the Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year in both 1998 and 2010.

Dario Franchitti was one of two winners of the BRDC Gold Star in 2009.

Dario Franchitti was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Birthday Honours "for services to motor racing".

Dario Franchitti was elected to the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame in 2014, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2017, the Open Wheel category of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2019 and the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.