Full Throttle

Almost a year after he last raced in single-seaters, and losing his NASCAR ride for lack of sponsorship, Dario Franchitti signaled his return to open wheel by posting the third-quickest time in pre-qualifying for tomorrow’s race at Surfers’ Paradise in Australia.

And the 35-year-old Scot, who won the IndyCar Championship and Indy 500 last season, believes he can mark his comeback with victory.

“I certainly don’t see why I can’t win,” the Bathgate driver said after his first competitive outing in the Target Ganassi car yesterday. “I’ve won here before and we certainly have the pace to win again.

“It’s a bit ironic that after a year in Nascar I’m making my single-seater return at one of my favourite circuits.

“I love it here and I’d love to repeat the win I had back in 1999.”

Franchitti clocked a best time of 1 minute 36.1712 seconds, 1.3628s slower than Australian Will Power who took provisional pole.

NOTE: You can keep up with all the IndyCar action at Surfer’s Paradise at Asian Motor Sports. (Even the “flashy” parts. Oops I didn’t say that - ed.)