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Franchitti: Villeneuve's got it wrong

Dario Franchitti completed his first test with the 2003 Dallara-Honda IRL car at Phoenix last week, and then responded to questions that Jacques Villeneuve raised about his move to the Indy Racing League

"The test was very good," said the Scotsman in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT sister title RACER. "I really enjoyed it. It's a lot different to what I'm used to. On ovals I'm used to low downforce, so to have so much grip was actually a lot of fun - very different. The Honda engine seems good, but I can't say too much about that. But I think the whole package will be very effective."

One thing he wasn't happy about were comments made by Formula 1 driver Jacques Villeneuve in AUTOSPORT's Christmas issue. Among many things that the Canadian said was that: "Franchitti will find it so boring. From a career perspective he possibly has a better chance of winning a championship, and possibly CART-wise he couldn't get another contract to stay there, so he had no choice."

Franchitti said "For Jacques to say that is very strange. He's not talking from a position of knowledge - he's never driven one of these cars, and he's never been to an IRL race. Basically those comments are assumptions. Yes, sure I'm going to miss racing on road courses a lot, but this is still an exciting move.

"As a team we are coming into this new, and that is a challenge, and there are some very strong teams to beat. But that is part of the fun, and winning is too, and we are working to be in a position to do that from the start. When was the last time Jacques looked like winning a race?

"I can assure you that racing as close as it is here is not boring" he continued. "How boring is it to be running around at the back in F1?"

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