Franchitti set for challenging race

The Team Green driver's championship hopes were jump-started at Motegi Twin-Ring two weeks ago, when the Scot finished on the podium after a strong race.

However, just as he has got into his stride, the 26-year-old will be faced with starting 14th this weekend on a track that favours a high grid spot, as overtaking is notoriously tricky. Qualifying for the event took place back in April, before Franchitti had got on top of his car problems.

"We're looking at another uphill battle in Nazareth this Saturday," said last year's CART runner-up.

"We're not starting where we would like, it's a very tough track to pass on and we'll have to contend with traffic ahead and behind. But, having said that, Team KOOL Green has shown we're capable of working our way to the front. And if I can stay out of trouble on track, I'm sure that through sound strategy and quick pit stops we can take home some points that day."

The Scot can take some solace from the record of this season's racing, where no winner has started higher than 8th on the grid. In addition, he had a particularly quick and stable race car in Japan, the last round, which enabled him to move up from 17th.

"To finish as well as we did in Japan is a big boost for Team KOOL Green. We struggled in qualifying but throughout the race we just kept fine-tuning the handling and wound up with a pretty good car," Franchitti said.

Franchitti is currently 9th in the standings with 20 points.