ALMS

Sears Point: Marino Franchitti preview

Marino Franchitti will be competing at the 2nd Round of the ALMS Championship taking place at Sears Point over next weekend, 17-19 May. Marino will be partnering team owner and race driver, Kevin Buckler, in The Racer's Group 2002 spec No. 66 ...

Edited: May 11, 2002, 2:07 AM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Marino Franchitti will be competing at the 2nd Round of the ALMS Championship taking place at Sears Point over next weekend, 17-19 May.

Marino will be partnering team owner and race driver, Kevin Buckler, in The Racer's Group 2002 spec No. 66 Porsche GT3RS. "It will be fun to be back in a Porsche" said Marino, who won his British GTO Championship in a 2001Porsche GT3RS. "Same car, same Michelin tyres, it should seem very familiar, I just have to learn the track. Hopefully we can push the Alex Job cars; it would be nice to take a Porsche podium again".

After setting the quickest GT time during official training for the Daytona 24 Hours driving a Porsche GT3RS, Marino's last race in a Porsche was during the Daytona 24 hours itself when, whilst running on the same lead lap as The Racer Group's Porsche, which at the time was being driven by two of the Porsche works' drivers, Marino's J3 Racing Porsche GT3RS lost its flywheel at 2.00am. "That was a real shame, but I'm out to rectify that". Kevin's doing a great job, and I'm looking forward to driving with him. Sears is his home track, so I should be able to pick up some good tips".

The Racer's Group have just completed the Preliminary Test at Le Mans where their entry is being driven by Kevin Buckler and two of the Porsche works' drivers, Lucas Luhr and Timo Bernhard. The Race's Group Porsche, with Lucas Luhr at the wheel, set quickest GT time in Le Mans on Sunday.

On driving in the US, Marino was very relaxed, "The States is home-from-home for me, and I thoroughly enjoy racing here. The more race tracks I can compete on this year, the easier it will be in the future. My memory bank has taken in a few new deposits this year, Daytona, Sebring, Phoenix and now I'm looking forward to Sears Point, I understand it's a difficult track, but once conquered, I can begin working on my lap times".

Marino Franchitti's last race in the USA was in the Rand Racing Nissan Lola SRPII in which, on his prototype debut, Marino qualified on pole, took fastest lap in the race and won the SRPII class.

- Kaye Wilson

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Fellows ready for Grand Prix of Sonoma

Next article Sears Point: Audi preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Marino Franchitti



Di Grassi, Franchitti to race for Mazda at Petit Le Mans

IMSA

IMSA

Road Atlanta

Di Grassi, Franchitti to race for Mazda at Petit Le Mans



Marino Franchitti seeking new U.S. opportunities

IMSA

IMSA

Marino Franchitti seeking new U.S. opportunities



Franchitti gets Mazda prototype seat for Sebring 12h

IMSA

IMSA

Sebring

Franchitti gets Mazda prototype seat for Sebring 12h

Latest news



Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

24 min

Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP



Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

25 min

Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP



LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

51 min

LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates



Kyle Larson wins 2026 NASCAR Cup championship with Stage 1 clinch at Homestead

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

55 min

Kyle Larson wins 2026 NASCAR Cup championship with Stage 1 clinch at Homestead

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe