Bathgate’s Dario Franchitti today bids to close the 42-point gap to IndyCar Championship leader Will Power by winning for the first time on the Edmonton track in Canada.
The 36-year-old Scot, who finished second in his Target Ganassi car behind the Australian driver’s Penske in Toronto last weekend, admits he’s in for a tough weekend.
“We’ve seen already the Penske cars are quick here,” Franchitti, bidding to win his third IndyCar title, said after seeing the three Penske cars of Power, Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves finish ahead of him in pre-qualifying.
“The Penske guys seem to have their cars well hooked up at the moment and they’re very, very fast. We’re playing catch-up a little bit here, as we were last week, but I’m confident my crew will get the best out of my car.
“This is a very bumpy and demanding circuit and one which is hard on both the cars and the drivers. Like everywhere, the start and our race strategy will be crucial to we have to make sure we get everything right.
“I finished fifth here last year after starting sixth, so ideally I’d like to improve on that. It’s getting crucial now that I start closing the gap to Will. I’ve already won the Indy500 this year and I’d love to do the double by winning the championship again.”
While the three Penske cars dominated pre-qualifying — Power’s fastest lap of 1m01.6689s on the 1.97-mile circuit was 0.3667s faster than Franchitti in fourth — the Scot’s Ganassi team-mate, Kiwi Scott Dixon, could only manage sixth.
JM