Motorsport: Franchitti closes in on IndyCar title

Twelve months after he clinched his second IndyCar Championship on the final corner of the final race of the season at Homestead, Dario Franchitti returns to Florida aiming to repeat the experience.

The Bathgate driver heads into today's IndyCar finale at the one-mile oval 12 points adrift of the Penske of current leader, Will Power, and the Scot knows if he wins and the Aussie finishes no better than third, the title is his.

But despite his experience last season, when he again found himself trailing the championship leader entering the final race, Franchitti — already with the Indy500 tucked into his racesuit this year — is taking nothing for granted.

"We qualified on pole, won the race and clinched the IndyCar Series driver's championship last year, but it's a whole new ball game this weekend," Franchitti said yesterday.

"Everybody has to start from scratch this weekend, and we're no different. Team Target Ganassi has a great history of winning when it comes to the final crunch and we'll be doing everything we can to win again. It's one of the most physically demanding circuits on the calendar and with its high banking and very, very tight corners I think we're in for a hell of a race again."