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Marino Franchitti

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Marino Franchitti returns to a dedicated American Le Mans Series competitive program for the first time since 2005, this time as a teammate of Bryan Herta and brother Dario in factory-prepared Andretti Green Acura prototype (LMP2) in debut program for Acura. . .Expected to compete on regular basis when Dario has IRL-related conflicts. . .A veteran of 21 Series starts in multiple classes since 2001, posting a best second place finish at last season’s Petit Le Mans in a Ferrari 430 GT fielded by Risi Competizione to match a another second in 2002 at Infineon in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. . .Candidate to see more GT2 Ferrari seat time in 2007 before Acura prototype opportunity came along.
2006: Made only Series appearance at Petit Le Mans. . .Posted a second-place finish with Anthony Lazzaro/ Maurizio Medani in a Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta fielded by Risi Competizione.
2005: Joined Panoz Esperante GTLM team and saw first action of season at Mid-Ohio with fellow Scot Robin Liddell. . .Duo finished fourth in consistent run after overcoming handling problems. . .Joined Bryan Sellers and battled heat exhaustion at Lime Rock, completing 150 laps for eighth place GT2 finish after qualifying fifth. . .At Infineon, electrical problems knocked Panoz Esperante out of action after only 39 laps and 10th place class finish. . .Paired with Christophe Tinseau at Portland. Overall result was fifth in GT2, but three laps off winning pace. . .Fared no better at Road America as he battled mechanical gremlins all week that resulted in seventh place class finish. . .Dealt with set-up issues all week at Mosport, then saw fuel cell problems end Panoz’ day after 107 laps and in seventh place. . .Added Gunnar Jeannette as third driver for Petit Le Mans and completed 258 of 394 total laps. . .Spent considerable time along pit road en route to seventh place class finish. . .Ended the year at Laguna Seca with same results – seventh in class.