FLASH! Danica No Anna Kournikova!

19th April 2008

FLASH! Danica No Anna Kournikova!

posted in IRL |

Danica Patrick used a fuel gamble to take a historic victory in the delayed Twin-Ring Motegi round of the 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 towards the foot of the top ten for most of the race, as Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Penske’s Helio Castroneves dominated the event.

AGR’s decision to bring Patrick in for an additional sip fuel at the end of the final full course yellow paid off spectacularly, allowing her to take a remarkable last gasp victory and leave the “Kournikova of IndyCar” label behind.

Castroneves led the first half of the race, before being leap-frogged by Dixon during the mid-race pitstops. The Ganassi driver then pulled away from the field - leading by as much as six seconds - and looked set for victory until having to pit from the lead with six laps to go.

Fellow leaders Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Castroneves then had to follow suit, allowing Patrick to come through and snatch the win. Castroneves and Dixon completed the podium.

(You know it’s a good day when a legit reason to post a Danica pic drops into your lap - ed)

Quotes later…

“It was a long time coming, finally,” said Patrick, who drives for Andretti Green Racing. “I was managing to save fuel and keep the speed up and, when I saw Helio, I knew he was the one to beat.”

“I knew there was a good reason for coming to Japan,” she said. “I want to thank my team, the fans and everyone who supported me.”

Dixon took the lead from Castroneves on the 93rd lap, but he settled for third.

“We led for a lot of laps but came up short,” Dixon said. “But congratulations to Danica for her first victory.”

Technorati Tags: Danica Patrick, AGR, Andretti Green Racing, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, IndyCar, Twin Ring Motegi, Japan

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 11:36 pm and is filed under IRL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

1 On April 20th, 2008, phastphil said:#

Indy car drivers wimps! They let a “girl beat em”!
Seriously I thing this is terrific, “You Go Girl”!

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

2 On April 20th, 2008, phastphil said:#

Seriously I “think” this is terrific. What happened to the preview option?

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

3 On April 20th, 2008, Marc said:#

Preview is history and nevermore phil. It went with the switch of hosts.

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

4 On April 20th, 2008, peterg said:#

I’m going to get flamed..But…yes it has been a long time coming & it took a gamble to finally get a victory. The same could be said of Adrian Fernandez so I’m not picking on gender, she is a mid-fielder at best.

Regardless, a win is a win & it’s the publicity shot in the arm the new series needs.

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

5 On April 20th, 2008, Tim Zaegel said:#

So, maybe she isn’t Anna … BUT, Danica’s still pretty smokin. Her first win was long overdue, so congrats to her.

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

6 On April 20th, 2008, Marc said:#

I’m not going that far Peter, she may be a mid-fielder, hard to tell, at least for me until the end of this year.

2006 was a wash because Rahal Letterman gave her a crapwagon to run, for that season she gets this year to prove it

posted on April 20th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

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