After 200mph crash and split, Franchitti finds new happiness
HE was once wed to movie star Ashley Judd and enjoyed a glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.
But three years on from their split, Scots racing driver Dario Franchitti has settled down with a new wife and become a father for the first time.
The 43-year-old Indy Car champion from Bathgate, West Lothian, wed Eleanor Robb last year and the couple are now parents to a little girl, Sofia.
In 2013, Franchitti was forced to retire after suffering a broken back, a fractured right ankle and a concussion in 200mph crash.
In an interview this week with Radio Scotland, he revealed how the accident had changed his personality:
‘I’d been homesick for 15 years’
‘From the inside it felt different. I just think I was a lot more serious, not as easygoing, after the crash.’
On returning to his homeland he announced he was now single, but until this week he had not opened up about his new marriage to Londonborn Eleanor.
Asked about his life since retiring, he told BBC Radio Scotland: ‘I got remarried and my wife and I spend time here in Scotland and we spend time in London.
‘I’m still involved with Indy Car racing, working with Gunassi team, doing commentary for Formula E and doing programmes on classic cars for Goodwood TV. So it’s all these different things and then, somewhere in between that, getting to try and spend time with my wife and baby.’
On his previous life in the States he reflected: ‘I’d been homesick for 15 years. I had the most wonderful life living in America, but I was homesick, so the fact I get to spend more time here now is great for me.’
Franchitti and his new wife are believed to have met through a mutual friend, London-born Indy Car racer Pippa Mann. Their baby daughter was born at the end of last year.
Franchitti and Kiss The Girls star Miss Judd wed at Skibo Castle, Dornoch, Sutherland in 2001 but split in 2013 and divorced the following year.
During their time together, they bought Rednock House in Stirlingshire for £1.2million and spent their time in Scotland restoring it. Last year, they sold it for £4million.’
‘Ashley and I are great friends,’ said Franchitti. ‘I am lucky we have managed to keep that great friendship.’