Dario Franchitti is one of Goodwood’s MVPs

Dario Franchitti, Captain of Torbolton, is one of the most successful British racing drivers of all time. After a successful junior career, he spent two seasons racing for Mercedes in touring cars before heading over the United States where he embarked on a single-seater career in CART and then IndyCar, where he became a four-time Champion.

A preliminary season in 1997 with the Hogan Racing team got him up to speed in America before a switch to Team Green saw him become a winner in 1998.  A year later he was embroiled in a battle for the Championship with Juan Pablo Montoya. It went down to the wire as the pair finished the season level on points, but Montoya took the title with seven wins to Franchitti’s three.

Serious accidents both on and off the race track in subsequent years ensured that was as close as he would get to winning the CART Championship, but following the merger with the Indy Racing League Franchitti gradually began to recover his latent speed.

By 2007 he had managed to combine pace with phenomenal consistency, and he claimed his first IndyCar Championship in remarkable circumstances, at the final corner of the season as his title rival Scott Dixon ran out of fuel.

He took a year out in 2008 to compete in NASCAR, but in an uncompetitive car he simply couldn’t stay away from IndyCar, and returned with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009, where he proceeded to embark on a three-year Championship-winning streak.

Franchitti had clearly developed a strong understanding of the Dallara IR.05, and picked up where he’d left off, once again seeing off Dixon at the final round of the season to claim his second title. His brilliance at Ganassi made him the most successful driver in IndyCar history by the time he was forced to retire at the end of 2013 after another huge crash in Houston, Texas. His Championship record has since been overcome by Dixon.

Alongside his Championship successes, Franchitti was also a three-time Indy 500 winner, joining Helio Castroneves (four wins) as the only two drivers to achieve that many victories in the 21^st century.

It’s a hugely impressive career worthy of celebration, and all the more reason for Goodwood to place him on a pedestal at the Members’ Meeting. Dario Franchitti was inducted as one of the four House Captains in 2023, replacing Emanuele Pirro as the Captain of Torbolton, and alongside Tom Kristensen, Gordon Shedden and Andy Priaulx, will be one of four headline acts at each of the Members’ Meetings for years to come.

Ahead of the 81^st Members’ Meeting he said: “I’m really enjoying my historic racing, especially at the Revival and Members’ Meeting. This year [2024] I have the extra challenge of motivating the Torbolton team in all the fun and games. Winning the Shield would be good, but just getting involved as a House Captain is an honour in itself.”

Franchitti did indeed lead Torbolton to victory in the House Competition last year, while his career at Goodwood has also yielded victories at both the Members’ Meeting and Revival. He took the chequered flag in the Gurney Cup alongside Sean Lynn in a Ford GT40, and teamed up with Jimmie Johnson to win the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy with a great performance in an Aston Martin DB4GT at the 2024 Revival. His sights will now be set on helping Torbolton retain the Shield at 82MM.

Franchitti will be in action once again at the 82^nd Members’ Meeting, which gets underway on 12^th and 13^th April. Tickets are now available for Members and Fellows of the GRRC.

If you’re not already a Member or Fellow and you’d like to enjoy all the racing, demos, and other exciting content at the Members’ Meeting, you’ll need to join the GRRC. Click here for more information or to join the club.

Goodwood photography by Pete Summers, Jonathan James Wilson, Drew Gibson and Tom Baigent.

Race images courtesy of Getty Images.