Franchitti leads Daytona 24-Hoursposted in MSPOR30 | 01 | 2011

BATHGATE'S DARIO Franchitti and his Ganassi team led the Daytona 24-Hours after 18-hours of the Florida endurance race. The 37-year-old's No2 BMW-Riley — co-driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon and Jamie McMurray — had established a 25.286sec lead over the No1 Ganassi car of Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal and Joey Hand.

Franchitti, a winner of the event in 2008 with Ganassi, was behind the wheel for much of the three hours run behind a safety car when heavy fog essentially neutralised the race.

Both Ganassi cars though had experienced problems early on. The No1 car of Pruett was delayed at the start of the second hour when the team opted to change the gear cluster because the car was bouncing off the rev-limiter in top gear. Swift work by the crew ensured the pitstop, completed under yellow flags, only dropped the car one lap off the lead.

Multiple IndyCar champ Franchitti's No2 car dropped two laps on the 3.560-mile Florida circuit when it was forced to pit twice with punctures around the eight-hour mark. The Ganassi crew then opted to bring the car in for the same ratio change as the sister car during a safety car period after seven hours. The car lost more than a lap, but quickly got back on terms with the frontrunners.

There was frustration though for Wishaw's Ryan Dalziel, the winner 12 months ago. The 28-year-old Scot saw any hopes of winning back-to-back Daytona races essentially disappear when his Ford-Riley hit trouble early on. With six hours remaining, Dalziel lies 11th, 14 laps behind Franchitti's Ganassi BMW-Riley.

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Jim McGill