Marino Franchitti
Nationality | British |
---|---|
Born | 7 July 1978 |
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
Years | 2005, 2009–2010, 2012-2013, 2016 |
Teams | Panoz Motorsports Drayson Racing Highcroft Racing |
Best finish | 25th (2010) |
Class wins | 0 |
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.
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]
Personal life
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)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Parr 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
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | MSB Motorsport | Ralf Kelleners | Ferrari 360 Modena GT | GT | 12 | DNF | DNF |
2003 | Risi Competizione | Kevin McGarrity | Ferrari 360 Modena GTC | GT | 243 | DNF | DNF |
2004 | Rand Racing | Derek Hill Andy Lally |
Lola B2K/40-Nissan | LMP2 | 12 | DNF | DNF |
2005 | Spyker Squadron | Peter van Merksteijn Sr. Frans Munsterhuis |
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R | GT2 | 18 | DNF | DNF |
2008 | Dyson Racing | Butch Leitzinger Andy Lally |
Porsche RS Spyder Evo | LMP2 | 351 | 2nd | 2nd |
2009 | Dyson Racing Team | Butch Leitzinger Ben Devlin |
Lola B08/86-Mazda | LMP2 | 149 | DNF | DNF |
2010 | Patrón Highcroft Racing | David Brabham Simon Pagenaud |
HPD ARX-01C | LMP2 | 349 | 5th | 2nd |
2011 | Highcroft Racing | David Brabham Simon Pagenaud |
HPD ARX-01e | LMP1 | 332 | 2nd | 2nd |
2013 | Level 5 Motorsports | Scott Tucker Ryan Briscoe |
HPD ARX-03b | P2 | 346 | 6th | 1st |
2014 | Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas |
Riley Mk XXVI-Ford | P | 291 | 1st | 1st |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Panoz Motor Sports | Patrick Bourdais Bryan Sellers |
Panoz Esperante GT-LM | GT2 | 185 | DNF | DNF |
2009 | Drayson Racing | Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker |
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 | GT2 | 272 | DNF | DNF |
2010 | Highcroft Racing | David Brabham Marco Werner |
HPD ARX-01C | LMP2 | 296 | 25th | 9th |
2012 | Highcroft Racing | Michael Krumm Satoshi Motoyama |
DeltaWing-Nissan | 75 | DNF | DNF | |
2013 | Level 5 Motorsports | Scott Tucker Ryan Briscoe |
HPD ARX-03b | LMP2 | 242 | NC | NC |
2016 | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell |
Ford GT | GTE Pro |
306 | 40th | 9th |
Complete V8 Supercar results
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | Final Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
NC | 0 |
24 Hours of Daytona
Year | Team | Car | Co-Drivers | Laps | Class | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | SpeedSource | Mazda RX-8 GT 2.0L 3-Rotor | Jonathan Bomarito James Hinchcliffe Sylvain Tremblay |
722 | GT | 16 | 6 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 13th | 54.5 |
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series results
Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
29th | 60 |
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 | 27th | 45 | |
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 |
48th | 30 |
* Season still in progress
References
- ^ "Andretti Green Racing Team Profile". Acura. 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
- ^ Pruett, Marshall. Interview with Dyson Racing’s Marino Franchitti Archived 2008-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, SpeedTV.com, 21 January 2008
- ^ English, Steven (14 January 2010). "Franchitti to join Highcroft in 2010". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ "LE MANS: Marino Franchitti Named First DeltaWing Driver". Web. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Allan McNish interview part 1 on qosfc.com[permanent dead link]
External links
- Official website
- Marino Franchitti career summary at DriverDB.com
- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Bathgate
- Sportspeople from West Lothian
- Scottish people of Italian descent
- Scottish racing drivers
- Italian Scottish racing drivers
- Formula Ford drivers
- Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
- FIA GT Championship drivers
- American Le Mans Series drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- British GT Championship drivers
- European Le Mans Series drivers
- Supercars Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
- Blancpain Endurance Series drivers
- FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
- WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- Italian British sportspeople
- British people of Italian descent
- 12 Hours of Sebring drivers