Franchitti eyes title in 2006

Franchitti says that his expectations for 2006 are no different from normal and many people within the sport are tipping him the favourites for the 2006 IndyCar title.

Team boss Michael Andretti has tipped the Scot and teammate Tony Kanaan as the two drivers most likely to win the crown.

Franchitti won two races this year on his way to fourth in the standings, but he blamed bad luck and his own mistakes for not finishing higher.

"I think the expectations are no different than any other year," Franchitti said. "We have the equipment here to do the job. We had the equipment to do the job in 2005, as well. We had some pretty terrible luck. We made a couple mistakes, whether I made them, and also the team made them.

"I put my hand up certainly to Japan as a mistake I made and Sonoma when I spun in qualifying. As I say, there were some mistakes also made by the team. Everybody is fully aware of that.

"We sat down and we've thought, 'OK, how are we going to improve things for next year?' We hope to put those changes into place as far as just everybody upping their game. That really is it."

"My job is to go out there and keep the pace that we had in the 2005 season, not make any mistakes. The team have upped their game, as well. If we do that, we're looking in good shape."