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LM24: Marino Franchitti Le Mans Race Blog
Written by: Marino Franchitti
Dyson Racing   http://www.marinofranchitti.com
06/17/2009
Le Mans (FRA)
 
Drayson Racing's Marino Franchitti writes his final “Franchitti Files” blog from Le Mans 2009.

With an 8.30 a.m. warm up, it was an early start on Saturday for the whole Drayson Racing team. We used the session as a mini shake down, as I highlighted yesterday the car is completely rebuilt with new parts and we needed to check that everything was working as it should, and Jonny and I were happy to confirm that all was well.

Marino Franchitti and the Drayson Racing team started from 9th on the grid. (LAT) » More Photos
 Post session we practiced some pit stops and that hard work really paid off in the race as we were able to complete a full service during the race (driver change, fuel and tyres) in only 59 seconds!!

Right after our warm up, my fiancée Holly was racing in the Le Mans Legends race, but unfortunately she hit oil during the first lap, had a spin, and then the car had an electrical failure soon afterwards which was disappointing for both her and her team mate Charles.

As the rotation was Jonny, Paul and then me, Paul and I watched the start from the team’s hospitality above our pit garage with all of our families and friends. In my opinion there is nothing like the noise, atmosphere and emotion of the start of Le Mans and it was so great to see people that have never experienced it react to it.

Jonny and Paul both did great first stints and it was soon my turn to get in the car. We had an issue with the brakes on the car with a long pedal and although it would improve, we were to lose some time later in the evening when we changed the front left calliper due to excessive wear on that corner. It seemed there was a failure on our brand new calliper, which was something outside our control, but the team did a great job solving the issue and the car was better than ever after it.

It was just great to be back racing at Le Mans and we settled into a relentless rhythm of stints; it felt like you had just got out of the car, eaten something, got some mineral drinks down, changed your suit and it was almost time to be back in the garage to prepare for the next go. It was fantastic!! We singled stinted up until midnight and then we all doubled during the night to allow us the chance to get some sleep, though I only managed to get about two and a half hours during the whole race, much less than I normally manage!

Despite a one-hour holdup to change the alternator, Franchitti enjoyed his night stint at Le Mans. (Getty Images) » More Photos
 When I was in the car for my double at about 3 a.m. we had a battery alarm half way through the stint along with some other alarms, so I pitted straight away and quickly discovered that we had an alternator failure. It took just over an hour to change it and then I headed back out for what turned out to be the dawn stint, which is normally my favourite time to be in the car, but an LMP car blew its engine in front of me and covered my windscreen with oil and water and that along with the low sun meant that it was impossible in some parts of the track to see anything at all.

We continued running a very strong pace and maintaining our position in the top 10 in GT2 and I had completed my final stint. After handing over to Jonny we had some kind of electrical failure which stopped the car out on the Mulsanne. Jonny and the team went through every conceivable fix to try and get the car back, but we had to admit defeat with the end of the race rapidly approaching, though we did not abandon the car so we were
classified 11th in the final standings. I felt so bad for everyone; it was such a great performance by the team and drivers, but I especially felt for Paul as he was going to bring the car to the finish and I know how much that meant to him. However, we can hold our heads high as we didn’t put a foot wrong out on track or in the pits during the whole race.

It was disappointing to see that Chris Dyson and Guy Smith (my Dyson Racing team mates in the ALMS) did not make it to the end of the race either, especially Chris who’s car went out at around the same time ours did. Our garages were very close to each other and it was great to have the guv’nor (my boss, Rob Dyson) come in and see me during the weekend. I want to congratulate Mazda on the performance of the MZR-R engine and their podium finish in LMP2; that certainly shows how strong we are going to be in the ALMS in the second half of 2009.

Marino is looking forward to getting back to the ALMS with his Dyson Racing team. (LAT) » More Photos
 It was great to see Brabs get his long overdue overall Le Mans victory and he looked as happy as I’ve ever seen him after the race, even though he had ended up with the 2nd place trophy at that point and was sure McNish had nicked it!!!!

I now have a bit of a break before the next ALMS race at Lime Rock, so it’s time to recharge my batteries in preparation for the second half of the season, I can’t wait!

~Marino

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

Marino Franchitti is one of the drivers of the No. 87 Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. He's also a full-season competitor in the American Le Mans Series, sharing the #20 BP Dyson Racing Mazda LMP2 car alongside teammate Butch Leitzinger. Now in his second season with the Dyson team, the native of Scotland has distinguished himself as one of the fastest and most engaging drivers in the American Le Mans Series.

In his first sportscar racing season, driving for Porsche Cars Great Britain, Marino won the British GTO Championship in emphatic style, 11 podiums from 13 races which included 8 wins and 2 fastest laps. He mirrored his GT accomplishments when driving his first LMP2 prototype; breaking the lap record, he went on to take pole position and win the race. Now a skilled and experienced road racer in both GT and prototype categories, he is currently the only driver in the ALMS to have driven all three competing manufacturers in the LMP2 category, Acura, Porsche and Mazda.

Highly ranked amongst his career achievements so far is his overall win last year in a 4-hour race on the infamous 20km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany. A true sportscar enthusiast, there are no barriers to Marino's love of competition; in particular his passion for historic racing. Competing at Goodwood is a priority and last year he drove arguably one of the historic greats, the Ferrari 250 GTO.

Learn more about Marino at www.MarinoFranchitti.com. His BP Dyson Racing Mazda team's site can be found at www.DysonRacing.com.



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