Car news / Danica"s day: Patrick becomes first woman to win IndyCar race |
20.04.2008
Danica"s day: Patrick becomes first woman to win IndyCar raceCar News /
"Finally," Danica Patrick said with tears streaming down her face.
The young star of the IndyCar Series won her first race on Sunday to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event. She did so with terrific fuel strategy at the end of the Japan Indy 300 in Motegi, Japan.
Patrick and Helio Castroneves were the only two drivers whose teams decided to go the final 51 laps without an extra pit stop, and she passed the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner on lap 198 of 200 to cruise to the victory in her 50th start.
Her win was also the first of any big-time significance for the 26-year-old driver from Roscoe, Illinois.
She seemed stunned moments after the race.
"It"s a long time coming," she said.
Most of the United States didn"t see it as the event aired on ESPN Classic after water seeping through the track forced officials to postpone the race by a day. The race ended just prior to midnight Saturday, Eastern time.
But this gives the Indy Racing League another dose of momentum with a pair of popular winners. Last week, Graham Rahal, 19, won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to become youngest winner of a major open-wheel race.
For the second year in a row, there was a crash on the first lap. Last year, it was Kosuke Matsuura spinning into the first-turn wall; this year it was Marco Andretti.
Andretti lost control of his automobile on cold tires as race-time temperature was 52 degrees, barely above the accepted minimum for tire usage. He had a long, slow slide and spin that damaged the left front suspension.
Like the April 6 street course race in St. Petersburg, Florida, when Andretti accepted responsibility for breaking a half shaft during a pit stop, the third-generation star blamed himself for his race ending so soon.
"It was driver error for sure," he said. "Again, I can"t be more disappointed for [the team]. Sorry."
Andretti Green Racing had a difficult start. During the second caution period, which was caused by Marty Roth"s contact with the fourth-turn wall, rookie Hideki Mutoh exited pit road alongside teammate Tony Kanaan when he released his car"s rev-limiter button and spun the automobile because he had too much throttle applied, spinning the rear tires.
The scary part was, the spin happened only a few feet in front of the pace car, and Johnny Rutherford had to swerve to miss him. Mutoh damaged his left front wing when he banged into the inside wall.
Andretti Green wasn"t the only team with multiple cars having trouble.
Vision Racing saw its two cars, driven by A.J. Foyt IV and Ed Carpenter, make contact on a pit stop. Foyt"s team released its automobile from its pit box just as Carpenter was driving into his. The contact damaged Foyt"s right front suspension; Carpenter"s automobile was undamaged, but he lost considerable track position, restarting at the back of the lead-lap pack in 10th place.
Foyt"s team worked to repair the damage, but the driver couldn"t control his emotions after his exit from the pits.
"There was miscommunication when to leave [the pit box]," Foyt said of the contact with Carpenter. "Then I went out there all pissed off and just pancaked the wall."
That caution was caused by Vitor Meira"s smack of the outside wall. Meira damaged the right rear suspension, ending his race.
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