Danica Patrick Makes Indy Car History
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Ok so I am not a real big Indy car fan, I much prefer our home grown V8 Supercar series however news this big requires a mention.
Danica Patrick has become the first woman in history to win an Indy Car round, the Japan 300.
As reported by the Telegraph,
In her 50th start in the series, the American covered 200 laps at the 1.52-mile Twin Ring Motegi with a time of 1 hr 51:02m 6739 secs. She saw off competition from second place Helio Castroneves of Brazil and third place Scott Dixon of New Zealand.
Victory: Patrick ends first in her 50th start
Castroneves timed 1h 51:08.5333secs and Dixon 1h 51:12.7298secs ahead of Dan Wheldon of Britain and Tony Kanaan of Brazil.
Patrick, 26, said:”Finally. This is a long time coming. It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me.”
“I know I was on the same strategy as Helio (Castroneves) and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn’t believe it. This is fabulous.”
With six laps remaining, Dixon had a 3.6-second lead, but the leader had to enter the pits for fuel on lap 195. Then Wheldon and Kanaan had to do the same on lap 196.
That left the door open for Patrick and Castroneves, whose last pit stop came on lap 148.
“I can’t say the last stint was exactly hard. I was taking it easy and going fast but still trying to save fuel. All I had to beat was Helio and I knew I had been saving fuel earlier in the stint.
“I didn’t want to make the mistake of not trying harder to get by him.”
Truly a great effort, makes you wonder how she would have done had she been really pushing!
