Controversial crash sets up title thriller
03 September 2007 A controversial collision with rival Scott Dixon yesterday means he trails his rival by four points heading into the final round this weekend. Trackside’s Keith Collantine reflects on another dramatic twist in the Indy Racing League championship. Did Scott Dixon deliberately take out his championship rival Dario Franchitti on the penultimate lap of yesterday’s Detroit Indy race? That’s the question that everyone is asking in the Indy Racing League. Franchitti’s boss Michael Andretti slammed Dixon, saying: “He saw that Dario was going to be able to get by him, so he let off the brake and took Dario out. It was totally on purpose.” The drama kicked off with one lap to go as Dixon moved to pass Buddy Rice for second place. Rice hit Dixon, tapping the title contender into a spin. As Franchitti approached Dixon to pass him the New Zealander appeared to deliberately steer his Target Ganassi car into Franchitti’s path. His car pinned the Briton’s against the wall, although Franchitti was later able to extract his battered machine and limp home to finish sixth. After the race Franchitti spoke up for his title rival, saying: “Scott has raced me cleanly all year and I've raced him cleanly. So going on past form, I don't think he would have done it intentionally.” Dixon also claimed it was not deliberate – watch the video below and judge for yourself.
Amazingly this was Franchitti’s fourth crash in as many races. He survived a 200mph flip at Michigan and another smash at Kentucky (click links for the videos). At Infineon Raceway last weekend he was hit by team mate Marco Andretti, losing the championship lead to Dixon as a result. Dixon has a three point advantage over Franchitti ahead of the final round in Chicago this weekend. Don’t miss it! Auto Trader links Formula 1
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