Dario Franchitti returning to racing with Mercedes GT3 EVO

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Four-time IndyCar Series champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will make his racing return next month, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in the Michelin 24H Dubai on Jan. 17-18.

Franchitti will drive for Team Parker Racing, sharing the No. 31 Mercedes-AMG with 2012 FIA World Touring Car champion Rob Huff, and the father-son duo of Shaun and Max Lynn. The car, pictured below, also features a unique livery designed by former Formula 1 and CART Indy car driver Stefan Johansson.

The event will mark Franchitti’s return to pro racing for the first time since sustaining career-ending head and neck injuries in a crash during the 2013 IndyCar race at Houston. That accident prevented Franchitti from a deal which would have seen him drive a factory Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, though in 2019, he was cleared by doctors and Motorsport UK to participate in amateur classic car events such as the Goodwood Revival and the Spa Six Hours.

Prior to the accident, Franchitti’s sports car racing career was highlighted by an overall victory in the 2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and class victories at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. This will be his first race behind the wheel of a contemporary GT car.

Team Parker Racing is a regular presence in the SRO British GT Championship and a winner of multiple Porsche one-make championships in the UK. The Leicester-based team has previously raced at the 24H Dubai, but this will be the first time that it will enter a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, after campaigning the Bentley Continental GT3 for several years after factory support for the car had ended.