George Dario Marino Franchitti MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British motorsport commentator and retired motor racing driver from Scotland.

In 1995 and 1996, he competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the related International Touring Car Championship for the AMG-Mercedes team, winning two races.

Franchitti won his first IndyCar Drivers' Championship in 2007 with four victories, including his first Indianapolis 500 win, before joining CGR for the following year's NASCAR programme.

Following contact with Takuma Sato's car in the penultimate round of the 2013 season, Franchitti sustained two fractured vertebrae, a broken ankle and concussion, bringing his racing career to an end.

After retiring, Franchitti became an advisor and driver-coach for CGR, as well as a co-commentator and driver pundit on the all-electric Formula E racing series' television world feed.

[31][32] During the ITC season, Franchitti won his first touring car race at Mugello, twice finished second at Donington Park, and third at the second Estoril round for third in the Drivers' Championship with 80 points.

[31] At the end of 1996, the ITC folded due to escalating costs and Franchitti told Ilmor boss Paul Morgan he wanted to compete in the US-based Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series.

[3][16][33] Jackie Stewart sent a letter of recommendation to trucking mogul Carl Hogan, who telephoned Mercedes in Germany,[34] and the company assigned Franchitti to drive the No.

[32] At the season's 14th race, the Texaco/Havoline 200, Franchitti took his first series victory, and the first Champ Car win for a Scottish driver since Jim Clark in the 1965 Indianapolis 500.

[44][45][46] Franchitti's manager Craig Pollock advised him to remain in CART to gain more experience and he rejected an offer to join Stewart Grand Prix in F1.

He won the season's penultimate round the Honda Indy 300 from pole position to enter the season-ending Marlboro 500 nine points ahead of Montoya.

[51] Prior to the 2000 CART season, Franchitti was hospitalised after a crash during pre-season testing at Homestead–Miami Speedway; part of the car's suspension hit his head, and he sustained displaced fractures in his left hip and pelvis, and multiple minor brain contusions.

[55] As a result, Franchitti underwent physical therapy five times a week,[56] before CART's medical director Steve Olvey declared him fit that March.

[32] At the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland, Franchitti qualified 14th, passing race leader Memo Gidley with ten laps remaining for his seventh career CART victory.

[11] Franchitti led the final 15 laps of the Molson Indy Vancouver after teammate Paul Tracy's pit stop for fuel and tyres, and had his first win of the season.

[a][69][70] Franchitti changed his driving style to handle the lighter and more responsive normally-aspirated, V8-engined car on short oval circuits,[71] and improved his hand-eye-foot coordination.

[72] After competing in the season's first two races, finishing seventh in the season-opening round at Homestead,[32] Franchitti fractured his lumbar vertebrae in an motorbike accident during a trip to West Lothian that April.

[70][85] His performance declined after Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) became more developed when IndyCar used only Honda engines,[86] and AGR underperformed on short high-speed oval tracks.

[87] He took pole position for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg street course race where suspension failure after colliding with Kosuke Matsuura's damaged car eliminated him from contention.

[32] Before the season-ending round at Chicagoland Speedway, Franchitti sustained a concussion in a vintage car accident at the Goodwood Revival and was replaced by A. J. Foyt IV.

[32] Franchitti's season highlight was the Indianapolis 500, which he won after rain ended it early after 166 laps, and became the race's first Scottish winner since Clark in 1965.

[94][95] Franchitti took two pole positions at Michigan International Speedway and Infineon Raceway and four top-three finishes over the next seven races to enter the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 three points ahead of CGR's Scott Dixon.

40 Dodge Charger on a multi-year contract from 2008 because of Stremme's sponsorship problems,[99][100] and because they believed Franchitti was more marketable,[b][102] a decision that greatly upset AGR.

[127] Following his taking pole position for the SunTrust Indy Challenge,[32] Franchitti led the championship after finishing second before exchanging the lead with teammate Dixon over the next four races.

[146] The race was abandoned following a 15-car accident on the 11th lap that involved Power and caused Wheldon's death, meaning Franchitti won his fourth championship; his third in succession.

[157] After seeing a doctor in Miami for neurological examinations and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan that produced negative results, Franchitti travelled to Scotland in November for rest.

[158] Franchitti retired from competitive driving after doctors advised him his injuries and those from previous accidents put him at risk of permanent paralysis and brain damage in the event of another major crash.

[177][178] In 2010, he entered the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Dixon, Jamie McMurray and Montoya at CGRFS in a Riley MkXX-BMW vehicle, finishing 37th due to mechanical failure.

[201] In 2019, Franchitti and Take That band member Howard Donald co-presented the four-part Channel 4 television motoring series Mission Ignition.

[203] Franchitti is a member of the "Brat Pack", an international group of CART drivers composed of Kanaan, Greg Moore and Max Papis, who shared a desire for enjoyment, attending all-night parties, discussing life and staying in close contact with one another.