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Campaign for real racing drivers
Dario Franchitti is a man who drives on the limit professionally and for fun, which is why he's our inaugural Real Racing Driver
If you're going to miss a race or two, it may as well be for a good reason. Crashing a near-priceless lightweight vintage E-type Jag at Goodwood is a good reason, and Dario Franchitti did just that at the Revival meeting in September. The impact knocked him out, and caused him to miss the final race of his season in the US IndyCar series.
Why did he crash? He doesn't know - he can't remember, which is the way it should be. Knowing him, he was probably pushing very hard when it happened.
"I don't really have any memory of the accident, so obviously it was a hard hit to the head," Franchitti said. "I got some interesting bruising from the seatbelts. It's just frustrating that it happened a couple of days before I could have raced. It's the first time I've really followed doctor's orders."
Scottish-born Franchitti is a driver who doesn't hold back, on or off the track. I remember being driven by him in a road car around a test track at Chobham, Surrey, when he was a budding F3 driver over 10 years ago.
"That's the biggest moment I've ever had in a car," he said, and drove off at high speed'
He was immensely fast, and identified a small problem with one of the car's front dampers after driving about five yards. The other thing he did that day was have a massive spin through a treacherous undulating section of the track called 'The Snake', ending up about four inches from some very unforgiving trees.
"That's the biggest moment I've ever had in a car," he said, and drove off at high speed.
Dario missed most of the 2003 IndyCar series because of injuries he sustained in a high-speed motorbike crash near his home. Pushing hard in his spare time even...
And he's been at or near the top of probably the most dangerous open-wheeler racing series in the world, IndyCars, for the best part of a decade, never afraid to speak his mind, never afraid to race to the absolute limit.
We think Dario Franchitti is a Real Racing Driver and there should be more like him. He's married to Ashley Judd too, which helps.
Introducing CAMRRAD...
...the antidote to Ralf Schumacher. Each month we select a hero who's not only quick, but brave, badly behaved or possibly good bed. Or, like James Hunt, all three. In his memory, all CAMRRAD inductees get a 'Sex: Breakfast of Champions' badge worth 99p.
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