Scotsman Leads Lexus To Third Consecutive 24 Hour Race Win
28 January 2008
Scotsman, Dario Franchitti led a team of four drivers who steered a Lexus powered sports car to victory in the Daytona 24 Hour race in Florida over the weekend.
Franchitti, winner of the 2007 Indy 500, was taking part in the race for the first time having moved to the Chip Ganassi team in the closed season. One of his team-mates was former F1 Grand Prix winner, Juan Pablo Montoya.
The V8 Lexus-powered racer – built to the American GrandAm rules – secured an emphatic win two laps ahead of the Pontiacs, Ford, Mazda and Porsche that made up the rest of the top ten finishers.
The victory also meant that Chip Ganassi’s GrandAm team became the first to win three consecutive victories at the Daytona 24 hour race.
Results – Drivers – Car – Laps
- Franchitti/Montoya/Pruett/Rojas – Lexus Riley – 695
- Fogarty/Gurney/Johnson/Vasser – Pontiac Riley – 693
- Briscoe/Busch/Castroneves – Pontiac Riley – 689
- Jonsson/Turner/Zonta – Pontiac Riley – 688
- Angelelli/Taylor/Taylor/Valiante – Pontiac Riley – 687
- Negri/Patterson/Rahal/Wilson – Ford Riley – 680
- Gavin/Krohn/van de Poele – Pontiac Riley – 678
- Goossens/Hunter-Reay/Matthews/O’Connell – Pontiac Riley – 676
- Ham/Haskell/Matos/Tremblay – Mazda RX-8 – 664
- Ballou/Lally/Miller/Westbrook – Porsche GT3 – 657
ENDS
