British Comp. Driver: D. Franchitti
IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti has been named as British Competition Driver of the Year at the AUTOSPORT Awards
Autosport Awards
The Autosport Awards are a series of awards presented by motor racing magazine Autosport to drivers that have achieved significant milestones each season. Some of the presentations are selected by the general public via a reader's poll.
The Scot fended off high-profile rivals such as British Formula 1 duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to secure the prize, which was presented by former grand prix winner and inaugural McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner David Coulthard.
"It's a great feeling. It's good to come home and celebrate, to see my friends, colleagues and heroes," said Franchitti. "It's great to have Chip Ganassi here too. I have 75 people in Indianapolis [at Ganassi HQ] who I owe this to."
Franchitti snatched his third IndyCar crown by overcoming rival Will Power in the season finale at Homestead, having already claimed Indy 500 honours for a second time with a commanding performance in May.
Those results continued an incredible run of success for Franchitti, who has now won the title in every IndyCar season he has contested since 2007 - pausing only for a brief NASCAR stint in '08 before returning to IndyCar with Ganassi and adding another two titles.
"It didn't start off too well with Chip in NASCAR," Franchitti admitted. "Chip was good enough to invite me to come back and drive in IndyCar, though.
"He has the occasional word when things don't go to plan, but he's a great boss and I hope I can keep racing for him for a long time to come. I'm more passionate about racing than I ever have been before."
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