Guitars and Life

I have more than a touch of admiration for Dario Franchitti.  He without a doubt in the top 5 drivers to come out of Britain since the likes of Damon Hill etc.  Probably in the top 3 actually.  Now it is difficult to do a straight comparison as the people I'd put him up there with are Lewis Hamilton (1 F1 world championship), Jenson Button (1 F1 world championship), Dan Wheldon RIP (1 IndyCar title, two Indy 500 wins) and Alan McNish (3 Le Mans 24 hours, 3 ALMS series championships). Alan McNish had a brief F1 career with Toyota which whilst the biggest budget possibly in the paddock never seemed to have a car and engine that could be regular podium let alone winner material.  But you could say Lewis and Jenson are better than him as they succeeded where he didn't maybe.  Dan sadly never really got an F1 break and did turn down a chance to be a test driver however Dario's record arguably puts him ahead of Dan as they fought side by side in IndyCar for a while....

My post about champions is more poignant than ever in the cold light this morning.  I had half thought of holding on hoping to be able to report another British Champion - name Dario Franchitti as Indycar champ for the fourth time.  Whilst he is champion the manner of the last race leaves all that in the shade.  The terrible loss of Dan Wheldon another great British driver who had conquered America was just so so sad. Motorsport is dangerous.  I watched the movie Senna over the weekend and was in tears around the final few mins when they covered that awful weekend in 1994 when he and Roland Ratzenberger lost their lives - motorsport is much safer now than then but it is still dangerous. Dan Wheldon was a great driver, sadly not with a regular drive this year which for a past champion was mad frankly.  He turned out once this year at the Indy 500 and won!  Shows the quality of the man without doubt. A sad loss and over shadows motorsport...