Marino Franchitti in stunning drive from last to first place

May 27 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

MARINO Franchitti took his first ALMS chequered flag after a stunning drive that saw him steer through the pack from last place to first.

The Bathgate race ace powered his way through the field on Saturday to wrap up a superb win in California.

Thirty-five cars lined up for the six-hour race around an undulating 2.238 miles that make up the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, set in Monterey countryside.

Circumstances meant Franchitti missed out on the chance to drive the No1 LMP2 Patron Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01C in either practice session.

This meant the team were penalised and had to start the race from the back of the grid.

Simon Pagenaud started the race for the Highcroft team and he took his first pit stop from second place and then went into the lead five minutes later, when the leading Porsche Spyder made its pit stop.

David Brabham was next to double stint the Patrón Highcroft car, handing it to Marino for the last two hours.

Marino joined the race in the lead, but 13 laps later was overhauled by the straight-line speed of the Dyson Mazda, giving rise to a great battle.

Marino hounded the Mazda until it pitted, handing Marino back the lead. Then came the No.1 car’s final stop, but taking only fuel and leaving on the Michelin tyres allowed Marino to rejoin the race still in the lead.

Marino continued to push hard and after 16 minutes still held a 26-second gap on the Dyson Mazda.

However, with just 24 minutes remaining and Marino still holding his own, the Dyson Mazda suffered a mechanical issue and Marino was able to virtually coast to the chequered flag, giving him his first ALMS overall win, and with a margin of seven laps on his closest rival.

An elated Marino said after the race: “I can’t really put into words what winning an ALMS race outright means to me – it’s just fantastic!

“To come from last to first as we did today is a great achievement and I have to thank the Patrón Highcroft team for a great car, a perfect strategy, perfect pit stops and my team-mates Simon and David for the perfect jobs they did before I got in the car.

“It was a no-holds barred battle with the Dyson team – I really enjoyed that – and although they had their issue at the end, I know they’ll be a force for the rest of the season.

“It’s nice to head to Le Mans with a victory and I’m sure if we perform like this there, we’ll be in good shape.”

The next race in the series is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on Saturday, June 12.