WOW unbelievable!!!
Good for her. Although I'm sure some here will try to diminish the win by saying she won on fuel economy . Nevertheless congratulations Danica.
In before the conspiracy theories and naysayers. She won the race fair and square and played it cool while the lead pack went for immediate glory.
A win is a win. She has three very talented teammates on her team, in equally good cars. should be interesting to see how she adapts to the road courses they are running this year.
Bravo Danica! Am very happy for her: sha has earned it. I first realized she was going to be a contender when arriving at Miami Homestead during qualifiying afew years ago 2003,4,5 can't remember and standing up on a photographers platform in turn one. 3 seconds later a car came by at top speed it was my first race of the year so was unprepared for the noise so an IRL car at 200mph a few feet away gets your attention and just as I tried to figure out if I still had eardrums I heard the announcer say: Danica second on the provisional grid! I only vaguely knew of her before that but now I was very aware There will be an F1 test this season or next for her, mark my words, for publicity certainly but maybe with an off chance at a seat: just think of the media attention this would get. In any case well done to her!
(FROM AUTOSPORT) Danica Patrick used a fuel gamble to take a historic victory in the delayed Motegi round of the IRL IndyCar Series. The Andretti Green Racing driver took the lead with just two laps to go as the rest of the front-runners had to pit for fuel, and became the first woman to win a major American open-wheel race. Patrick had run on the fringe of the top six for most of the race, as Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Penske's Helio Castroneves dominated the event. But AGR's decision to bring Patrick in for an additional fuel top-up at the end of the final full course yellow paid off spectacularly, allowing her to take a remarkable last gasp victory. Castroneves led the first half of the race - which was postponed by a day due to poor weather earlier in the weekend - with Dixon, Dan Wheldon (Ganassi) and Tony Kanaan (Andretti-Green) in close pursuit. Dixon jumped into the lead during the second pitstops, and was then able to pull away from the field, leading by as much as six seconds. But the final yellow on lap 142 eliminated his advantage, and left all the teams in a fuel mileage quandary. While most hoped in vain for additional yellows, Patrick, Castroneves and Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter all chose to make an extra stop just before the green, but only Patrick was able to conserve enough fuel in the final 51 laps to make it to the flag without a final splash-and-go stop. She duly rose to the front as Dixon, Wheldon, Kanaan, Castroneves and Carpenter all had to pit within the final six laps. Castroneves was able to rejoin fastest and take second place, five seconds behind the victorious Patrick, with Dixon completing the podium. Wheldon and Kanaan claimed fourth and fifth ahead of Carpenter - who had charged back into the lead group after earlier being delayed in a pitlane tangle with teammate AJ Foyt IV. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished seventh for Rahal-Letterman Racing, with Foyt's Darren Manning in eighth and Ryan Briscoe surviving a late brush with the wall to take ninth for Penske. The Australian had vaulted from the midfield to the lead group by topping up his fuel under an early yellow and consequently having a rapid second stop, but fell out of contention for the win when he scraped the wall in the closing laps. Townsend Bell claimed the final top ten spot for Dreyer & Reinbold. While Patrick celebrated a momentous victory, two of her Andretti-Green Racing teammates had less happy afternoons. Second row starter Marco Andretti spun into the wall at the first corner of the race, while local favourite Hideki Mutoh could only finish 11th after spinning in the pit exit and almost crashing into the pace car. Pos Driver Team Laps 1. Danica Patrick Andretti-Green 200 2. Helio Castroneves Penske 200 3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 200 4. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 200 5. Tony Kanaan Andretti-Green 200 6. Ed Carpenter Vision 200 7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal-Letterman 200 8. Darren Manning Foyt 199 9. Ryan Briscoe Penske 199 10. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 199 11. Hideki Mutoh Andretti-Green 199 12. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 198 13. Jay Howard Roth 192 14. Roger Yasukawa Beck 134 15. AJ Foyt IV Vision 103 16. Vitor Meira Panther 92 17. Marty Roth Roth 44 18. Marco Andretti Andretti-Green 0 CONGRATUALTIONS DANICA PATRICK, YOU DESERVED THIS, YOU EARNED IT, YOU WORKED FOR, NOW GO WIN AGAIN.
