Franchitti back on track
5 July 2010
Dario Franchitti climbed back ahead of Jenson Button in the Castrol Rankings thanks to his third place finish in the IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen last weekend.
The defending series champion was a factor all weekend in his Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara and avenged the memories last year by making it to the podium.
That result moved him up two places ahead of IndyCar rival Ryan Briscoe - who passed Franchitti on the final lap to seal second - and F1 World Champion Button, who was not in action.
Franchitti now lies seventh in the Castrol Rankings, making him Britain's second highest-ranked driver and meaning that it is now his score, rather than Button's that is contributing to Britain's lead of the Castrol Nations Rankings.
It was another great race for Briscoe's Penske team-mate Will Power, a man who incredibly didn't even have a full-time seat last year.
Power (riight) achieved a clean sweep of winning from pole position and setting the fastest lap in the process.
His third win of the season gained him five place in the Castrol Rankings to move the Australian up to 21st - 100 places higher than he began the season.
Fourth place for Raphael Matos (72) - equaling his career best - helped the De Ferran Dragon driver up five spots, while KV's Mario Moraes (87) gained four.
Losing ground was Justin Wilson (40), who failed to repeat his surprise win of 2009. The Dreyer & Reinbold driver finished 10th, a result that dropped him five spots.
It was a bad race too for the Andretti Autosport squad, despite announcing that Long Beach winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will complete the season.
Tony Kanaan (39) and Danica Patrick (66) each dropped two places, the Brazilian having to make a late splash 'n dash, while Marco Andretti (48) lost three spots after suffering excessive tyre wear late on and dropping out of the top 10.
The Castrol Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
