Marino Franchitti

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Marino Franchitti
Marino Franchitti - Le Mans 2012.JPG
Franchitti at Le Mans in 2012
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1978-07-07) 7 July 1978 (age 46)
Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland
Racing licence FIA Gold Driver.png FIA Gold
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 2005, 20092010, 20122013, 2016
Teams Panoz Motorsports
Drayson Racing
Highcroft Racing
Best finish25th (2010)
Class wins0

Marino Alessandro Cesare Franchitti [1] (born 7 July 1978) is a British racing driver, and the younger brother of Dario Franchitti. He has spent the majority of his career racing in sports cars and grand tourers, with a career highlight of winning the 2014 12 Hours of Sebring.

Contents

Racing Career

Born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, Franchitti began his career in the mid/late 1990s, initially finding his feet in Formula Ford 1600 competing in The Champion of Oulton series against circuit specialists such as Alaric Gordon (Champion 1999, 2001 and 2018). These were times for learning and initially, results were poor and it was not clear that Marino had the talent to succeed. He moved on to Formula Vauxhall in 1998.

In 2001, he began driving sports cars and won the GTO Championship in the British GT Championship series. He joined his brother in America in 2002, and drove in Grand Am and the American Le Mans Series, winning 1 race in the LMP 675 class.

In 2003, he was a development driver for Scuderia Ecosse's Ferrari 360 effort, racing with the team at the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2004, he was a driver for the Panoz Esperante factory team in ALMS as well as making a few Le Mans Series starts in a Porsche. He continued with the Panoz works outfit for the 2005 season, driving in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 2006, he returned to Scuderia Ecosse for their effort in FIA GT as well as making assorted other appearances in high-profile sports car endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona for SAMAX Motorsport.

In 2007, he signed a full-season deal to join his brother at Andretti Green Racing and to be the full-time driver for their new ALMS P2 class Acura entry with teammate Bryan Herta. Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, and Herta teamed up to win the P2 class in the first outing for the team and the car: the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring. Marino started with the team at the next race in St. Petersburg. Both Franchitti brothers left the team after the 2007 season and while Dario went to NASCAR, Marino continued in the ALMS, switching to Dyson Racing's Porsche RS Spyder, partnering with Butch Leitzinger. [2]

He remained with the team for 2009, which fielded a Mazda powered Lola B09/86. He moved to Highcroft Racing for three events in 2010. [3]

In 2011, Franchitti finished second at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the Highcroft Racing Honda Performance Development ARX-01e, which turned out to be the car's first and only race. He made an end-of-year start with Level 5 Motorsports in one of its Honda Performance Development ARX-01g's at the Petit Le Mans.

For 2012, Franchitti was confirmed as the first driver of the Highcroft Racing DeltaWing, which ran as the 56th and unclassified entrant in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. [4] Marino also drove for the PR1/Mathasian Motorsports PC team in select races, winning in his class at Mid-Ohio.

In 2013, Franchitti was hired by Level 5 Motorsports to drive an HPD ARX-03b for the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring. Franchitti won the P2 class with Scott Tucker and Ryan Briscoe and came 6th overall. Later, Level 5 signed on Franchitti for a full-season effort in P2. [5]

Media Career

Franchitti portrayed racer Eugenio Castellotti in the 2023 film Ferrari.

Personal life

Franchitti is the son of Marina and George Franchitti, both born in Scotland. He is of Italian heritage, from the town of Cassino in Southern Italy.

Marino is married to Holly Mason, second daughter of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and a racer of historic cars herself.[ citation needed ]

Marino and Dario Franchitti are also cousins of fellow Scottish racing driver Paul di Resta, and are friends off the track with Allan McNish. [6]

Motorsports career results

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

YearTeamCarClass12345678910111213DCPoints
2001Parr Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS GTO SIL
1

9
SNE
1

3
DON
1

5
OUL
1

4
CRO
1

4
ROC
1

4
CAS
1

Ret
BRH
1

5
DON
1

5
KNO
1

2
THR
1

3
BRH
1

3
SIL
1

6
1st ?

12 Hours of Sebring results

YearTeamCo-driversCarClassLapsPos.Class
pos.
2002 Flag of the United States.svg MSB Motorsport Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Kelleners Ferrari 360 Modena GTGT12DNFDNF
2003 Flag of the United States.svg Risi Competizione Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kevin McGarrity Ferrari 360 Modena GTCGT243DNFDNF
2004 Flag of the United States.svg Rand Racing Flag of the United States.svg Derek Hill
Flag of the United States.svg Andy Lally
Lola B2K/40-Nissan LMP212DNFDNF
2005 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Spyker Squadron Flag of the Netherlands.svg Peter van Merksteijn Sr.
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Frans Munsterhuis
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-RGT218DNFDNF
2008 Flag of the United States.svg Dyson Racing Flag of the United States.svg Butch Leitzinger
Flag of the United States.svg Andy Lally
Porsche RS Spyder EvoLMP23512nd2nd
2009 Flag of the United States.svg Dyson Racing Team Flag of the United States.svg Butch Leitzinger
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ben Devlin
Lola B08/86-Mazda LMP2149DNFDNF
2010 Flag of the United States.svg Patrón Highcroft Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud
HPD ARX-01C LMP23495th2nd
2011 Flag of the United States.svg Highcroft Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud
HPD ARX-01e LMP13322nd2nd
2013 Flag of the United States.svg Level 5 Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Scott Tucker
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Briscoe
HPD ARX-03b P23466th1st
2014 Flag of the United States.svg Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Flag of the United States.svg Scott Pruett
Flag of Mexico.svg Memo Rojas
Riley Mk XXVI-Ford P2911st1st

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-driversCarClassLapsPos.Class
pos.
2005 Flag of the United States.svg Panoz Motor Sports Flag of France.svg Patrick Bourdais
Flag of the United States.svg Bryan Sellers
Panoz Esperante GT-LMGT2185DNFDNF
2009 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Drayson Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Drayson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonny Cocker
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 GT2272DNFDNF
2010 Flag of the United States.svg Highcroft Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of Germany.svg Marco Werner
HPD ARX-01C LMP229625th9th
2012 Flag of the United States.svg Highcroft Racing Flag of Germany.svg Michael Krumm
Flag of Japan.svg Satoshi Motoyama
DeltaWing-Nissan 75DNFDNF
2013 Flag of the United States.svg Level 5 Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Scott Tucker
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Briscoe
HPD ARX-03b LMP2242NCNC
2016 Flag of the United States.svg Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Priaulx
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Harry Tincknell
Ford GT GTE
Pro
30640th9th

Complete V8 Supercar results

YearTeam12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728Final posPoints
2011 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport YMC
R1
YMC
R2
ADE
R3
ADE
R4
HAM
R5
HAM
R6
PER
R7
PER
R8
PER
R9
WIN
R10
WIN
R11
HDV
R12
HDV
R13
TOW
R14
TOW
R15
QLD
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
PHI
R19
BAT
R20
SUR
R21

Ret
SUR
R22

Ret
SYM
R23
SYM
R24
SAN
R25
SAN
R26
SYD
R27
SYD
R28
NC0

24 Hours of Daytona

YearTeamCarCo-driversLapsClassPos.Class
pos.
2012 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 GT 2.0L 3-Rotor Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Bomarito
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg James Hinchcliffe
Flag of the United States.svg Sylvain Tremblay
722GT166

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearEntrantClassCarEngine123456789RankPoints
2016 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6 SIL
4
SPA
2
LMS
10
NÜR
12
MEX
5
COA
4
FUJ SHA BHR 13th54.5

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series results

YearTeamClassMakeEngine1234567891011RankPoints
2014 Chip Ganassi Racing P Ford EcoBoost Riley DP Ford Ecoboost 3.5 L V6 Turbo DAY
8
SEB
1
LBH
LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
IMS
ELK
COA
PET
29th60
2017 Mazda Motorsports P Mazda RT24-P Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 DAY
SEB
8
LBH
COA
DET
WGL
9
MOS
ELK LGA PET 27th45
2018 Mazda Team Joest P Mazda RT24-P Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 DAY
SEB
LBH MDO
DET WGL
MOS ELK LGA PET
3
48th30

* Season still in progress

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References

  1. "Andretti Green Racing Team Profile". Acura. 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  2. Pruett, Marshall. Interview with Dyson Racing's Marino Franchitti Archived 2008-01-23 at the Wayback Machine , SpeedTV.com, 21 January 2008
  3. English, Steven (14 January 2010). "Franchitti to join Highcroft in 2010". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  4. "LE MANS: Marino Franchitti Named First DeltaWing Driver". Web. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  5. "ALMS: Level 5 Commits to Full Season Entries". Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  6. Allan McNish interview part 1 on qosfc.com [ permanent dead link ]