24h Le Mans
Scotsman Marino Franchitti, two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, will be making his sixth appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June. At the age of 37, the brother of 2012 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti has a great chance of success in the French classic. He talked to us about this new project.
One of the highlights of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the appearance of four Ford GTs. The twelve drivers recruited for the project will be racing under two banners: Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK and Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA. Although certainly a sizeable structure, the personnel feel that they are part of one and the same team. Drivers from a variety of backgrounds have been brought together by Ford for the four cars: Super Touring stars, experienced LM P2 drivers, up-and-coming talent… So what are Marino Franchitti’s special qualities that led to him joining the Ford adventure? “First of all you have to be a team player. We’re one team here and it doesn’t matter which Ford wins, as long as we win Le Mans, and hopefully win a World Championship, or some races at least. That has to be the goal. For me, I’m bringing a lot of prototype and GT experience. There are a lot of elements I’ve worked with before: Ford, Multimatic [responsible for preparing the Ford GTs] and Chip Ganassi Racing [the team entering the Ford GTs].”
Chip Ganassi Racing has already teamed Franchitti up with Felix Sabates in the United States. Is it important for a driver to work in a team where they know and trust the key people? “Yes, I think you always want to be comfortable. What makes great teams? You have to have good equipment and good backing from the manufacturers, and I think we have all of those ingredients. But in the end, it’s all about the human element doing their best job and executing properly. I’ve admired the success that George Howard-Chappell and his teams have had at Le Mans over the years [the former Prodrive Team Principal and Technical Director of Aston Martin Racing is now Project Manager at Multimatic]. Hopefully we can add to that this year.”
Ford’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans has captured the public’s imagination despite the difficulties endured for the time being by the Ford GTs out on the track. Will it be an even greater popular success than the 2012 DeltaWing adventure that Franchitti was part of? “From my point of view, it’s already bigger even though we haven’t got to Le Mans yet with this Ford programme! In the UK, for example, the biggest-selling car is the Ford Fiesta, with the same EcoBoost technology we have in our Ford GT. I’ve just noticed that if anything on the Ford GT goes out on social media, it’s picked up by Ford UK, Ford Argentina... it’s a massive company. There are a lot of Ford fans out there anyway, never mind the diehard fans who are excited to see Ford back at Le Mans. I think it’s bringing in a lot of new fans so I can’t imagine how crazy it’s going to be at Le Mans! There’s certainly a lot of focus. The DeltaWing already attracted a massive amount of focus so I’m used to that side of it, but we weren’t really racing anyone there [the DeltaWing was a Garage 56 entry, reserved for experimental, innovative projects]. With the Ford GT, there is an expectation to have success but I really hope we can put on a great show for the fans.”
Is it difficult from a driver’s perspective to be in a team with such pressure and attention from the public and the media? “We have a fantastic team of people that are taking care of the press side of that. They are not there to protect us, but they structure things in the correct way so that we can do our job and also meet the media and the fans and cover all the bases comfortably.”
Geoffroy Barre
Photo: Marino Franchitti gets ready to take the wheel of the Ford GT. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the highlight of his season, with a great battle in store in LM GTE Pro.
