Scott Dixon is one of the most successful IndyCar drivers of all time. The New Zealander is six times a champion, has more than 50 IndyCar race wins and this is his 21st season with Chip Ganassi, the sport’s longest ever partnership. Having started in karts he rose quickly through the lower formulae, heading not for Europe but to America where he won the Indy Lights championship before graduating to CART with PacWest in 2001. The partnership with Ganassi began in 2002 where his team-mates included Dario Franchitti, with whom Dixon was reunited at the Goodwood Revival, sharing an E-type Jaguar.
We caught up with Dixon between IndyCar duties to look back on an extraordinary career. And team-mate and fellow IndyCar champion Franchitti couldn’t resist joining in when it came to their Revival strategy.
Motor Sport: You started racing karts as a boy in New Zealand. Were you inspired or influenced by the success of Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme?
SD: “Yeah, sure, that was a big influence. The whole heritage of New Zealand motor sport from the 1960s and ’70s, which also included a lot of the grand prix drivers coming down to race in the Tasman Series. This is my dad’s era. He was a racer, and so most of the stories came from him. It was a very strong era for New Zealand and of course the McLaren name remains in top level racing to this day. My mentor was Kenny Smith, a bit of a legend as a driver in New Zealand, who would play a big part in my early career. So yeah, it was a special time, and that heritage still drives us today. It’s great for me to be a part of the country’s
