Career finishing line not in sight for Dario Franchitti

Mar 17 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

DARIO FRANCHITTI has insisted he plans to leave his Indycar rivals in his wake for a number of years yet.

The Bathgate-born race ace has steered his way into the record books with three IndyCar series titles and a pair of Indy-500 triumphs.

And while the 37-year-old admits his time in the fast lane is running out, he is determined to enjoy it while he can.

“When I hit 30, I always had this thing in my head that I’d retire when I was 35 but, as long as I’m enjoying it and I am competitive, then I will go on,” insisted Franchitti (pictured above).

“How long that is, I don’t know. There will obviously come a point when it is going to start closing over and I am not expecting to go into the season and win the championship. But if the performance level is the same as last year, then I will be happy.”

Franchitti is eyeing a third title in a row which would be a remarkable feat considering the Scot spent a disastrous season in NASCAR before returning to single-seaters.

“The motivation is still as strong as ever,” he continued. “Some of it comes from a realisation of how lucky I am to do this.

“I love what I do and there have been a couple of times in the last 10 years when it has almost been taken away from me.

“When I broke my back, I was almost forced to quit the whole thing. Then is had my problems in NASCAR.

“I’ve realised that I absolutely love driving IndyCars. I am not going to get too many more shots at championships or stuff like that.

“There are very few drivers, be it Formula One, IndyCar or whatever, who have ever left and returned to be a successful. When I left, I’d just won the championship and the Indy 500.

“I didn’t know what it would bring to the track. I wanted to see if I could get back to where I was.”