Four weeks after wrapping up a second consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series championship—his third title in four years—Dario Franchitti was able to step out of his whirlwind of activity and reflect.
“I was riding a motorcycle through the Australian outback and it suddenly hit me what we achieved,” said Franchitti, who won the Indianapolis 500 for the second time on his way to the series championship. “For me, these things are not in the moment that I understand what we have done so it literally took until I was in the middle of nowhere when I thought, ‘Oh, my God, what a year.’ ‘’
Franchitti was presented his second “Baby Borg”—the BorgWarner Championship Driver’s Trophy—by Timothy Manganello, chirman and CEO of BorgWarner Inc. during the company’s annual Indianapolis 500 celebration dinner Jan. 12 in Detroit. Manganello also presented Target Chip Ganassi Racing owner Chip Ganassi with the BorgWarner Championship Owner’s Trophy.
“It’s great to get another one; I’d like to have a whole collection,” said Franchitti, who returns to the IZOD IndyCar Series in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car for the 2011 season that kicks off March 27 with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
A replica of the Borg-Warner Trophy, which recognizes every Indianapolis 500 winner and is on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, the Baby Borg is 14 inches tall that rests on a beveled black marble base that includes a hand-crafted three-dimensional sterling silver image of the winning driver’s face. Rick Mears, winner of the 1988 Indy 500, was the first recipient of the driver’s trophy.
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