By alley - Sep 27, 2016, 4:22 PM ET

WEC: Ford pares Franchitti from remaining races

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing will run the final three races of the FIA World Endurance Championship without Marino Franchitti in the No. 67 GT.

The Blue Oval

revealed the lineup change via Twitter

and confirmed British veteran Andy Priaulx and young countryman Harry Tincknell will compete as a duo in Japan, China, and Bahrain.

Franchitti was part of the original driver signings for Ford's return to international sportscar racing, and drove the No. 67 through the first six rounds, including the most recent stop at Circuit of The Americas.

Although Ford did not speak to the reasoning behind the late-season change with Franchitti, the alteration brings the No. 67 in line with the sister No. 66 entry, which uses a two-driver rotation comprised of Olivier Pla and Stefan Mucke.

The move is the latest in a strange relationship between Franchitti and CGR. He was signed to compete with the team at Grand-Am's Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2010 and took part in the pre-event Roar Before The 24 test but, come race week, he was replaced by Max Papis under odd circumstances. Franchitti then returned to CGR at Daytona in 2014 and played a major role in scoring the overall win at Sebring with co-drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. In another odd twist, Franchitti was not retained for the remaining endurance events following the historic win for Ford.

One year later, Franchitti was back for his third tour with CGR after landing one of the sport's most coveted jobs as a factory Ford GT driver. In light of today's news, the Scot, whose elder brother Dario works with CGR's IndyCar program as a driver coach and mentor, appears to be at another crossroads.