AFTER 45 YEARS, LOTUS-FORD 38/1 LAPS INDY AGAIN: FRANCHITTI DRIVE'S HERO'S HISTORIC WINNER

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AFTER 45 YEARS, LOTUS-FORD 38/1 LAPS INDY AGAIN

November 17, 2010 - 4:06pm

Story featured in Road & Track

Dario Franchitti has had a memorable 2010. The defending IndyCar series champion won his second Indianapolis 500, he won his third IndyCar title in a down-to-the-wire battle, and he drove some of the slowest laps he's ever clocked at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The fact that those laps were in Lotus-Ford 38/1, however, made the occasion one of the most memorable of his life. The lapping session happened on September 21, 2010 – the first time this car has returned to the legendary "Brickyard" since fellow-Scot Jim Clark drove it to victory there in the 1965 Indy 500.

Franchitti was an appropriate choice to pilot the number-82 Lotus-Ford on its historic drive. Not only has he developed tremendous admiration for Clark, who was killed at a race in Hockenheim in Germany five years before Franchitti was born, but he also is the first Scot since Clark to win the Indy 500 (2007).

Asked why he held Clark in such high regard, Franchitti says he had a huge impact on his life and his racing career. "Obviously I never got to see him drive, but he is my hero," Franchitti said at the speedway just before his session in the car. "It all really started for me in 1993 when I was driving for Jackie Stewart. He invited me to a dinner to commemorate the 25th anniversary of [Clark's] passing. A lot of his friends were there, and people he had worked with. I heard a lot of stories about him that night, and thought, ‘I have to find out more about this man.' And the more I found out, the more I discovered that this was a man I admired tremendously. I feel very humble right now, and very emotional too."