Motorsport: Marino and new car shine in Sebring race

Young pretender Marino Franchitti won the battle of the Scots ahead of Allan McNish in the Sebring 12-hours race in Florida, the opening round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. But the 31-year-old from Bathgate ultimately had to settle for second place, a tantalising 31.868secs behind the winning Oreca Peugeot.

It was a major achievement for Franchitti's Highcroft Racing team whose petrol- powered HPD ARX-01e only ran for the first time seven days before the start of the gruelling race at the bumpy 3.7-mile, 17-corner International Raceway.

"We came very, very close," admitted Franchitti, partnered by Aussie David Brabham and Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. "Considering how new our car is, it's a stunning result for everyone in the team.

"The monumental effort everyone has put in to make this happen, and the hours they have worked is just unbelievable.

"Our pitstops were perfect, the strategy was perfect, we did nothing to the car except give it fuel and tyres all day."

The race was won, surprisingly, by the Oreca first-generation Peugeot 908 HDi driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval and Olivier Panis, which outlasted the two new 2011 second-generation Peugeot works' cars.