That woman is a menace to the crews !!!
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That woman is a menace to the crews !!!
This could very well be an occasion where she just drove it too hard out of her pit box, but it could also have been a steering issue. Between the paddle-shifter/electronics issues, I'm willing to guess that there's more to this story than simply "Danica screwed up".
Steering issue?Quote:
Originally Posted by nickfalzone
Ah the steered fine after she almost killed some pit crew members......again!
I think it's more of a case of "Danica screwed up!", as did Milka Duno and Scott Dixon. What scares me about Danica's incident is how exposed and vulnerable crew menbers are.
What scares me is the media not talking about it all. Scott Dixon has not backed down from his criticism of her driving and from what i have (not) heard and as AUTOWEEK reported the other drivers coming to her defense is NILL.
In other words, her steering was a bit off to the right when entering the pits, and when she accelerated quickly out she didn't have any time to zero it. Theres #'s on the dash that show this, but obviously she wasn't paying attention. I would say this is about as dumb a move as Dixon made, but not more so.
Without a doubt, it looks like Danica simply screwed up. The ICS, along with the media have built her up and placed her on a pedestal. She has more that welcomed the hype and overbilling, now will see if she is willing to accept responsibilty.
I personally believe that Danica has mediocre ability and on a road course, which is more demanding and more reflective of a driver's talent, she clearly shows that she is not a top driver.
I recall that in her first couple of years, she made a pit-road or caution mistake almost every race... I made the comment here on this forum years ago that I just didn't think she had the mental capacity to be a top-level driver. That was a pure engage-throttle, disengage-brain moment there.
Of course I'm not sure what went wrong with Dixon either, except "mistakes breed mistakes, and cautions breed cautions"
Sports Center just showed it. :eek:
I've seen drivers come in hot and get crossed up with the pit crew (usually their own). But I can honestly say, I have never seen anyone do anything close to that before. Yeah, I think there was something wrong with her steering: the person holding the wheel.
Luckily no one was killed. ESPN didn't say if any of the Target guys were injured or not. They didn't hold the shot long enough to show if anyone smacked her upside her helmet, but they should have. Wonder who or what she'll blame for this one?
I remember Mario Andretti doing that right infront of me at Michigan in 93 or 94, and seeing people spin leaving the pits on cold tires quite often in the CART days...Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
EDIT: Found the video on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jjZkTqk3Os About the 14:00 min mark
Unfortunately, I did not get to see the race (sad day that F-1 was not on at 7.30AM - it is the only time I get to watch a whole race, AND I could only watch the start of the Indycars before running out the door...)
Anyway, it sounds like a serious incident and it got NO coverage of significance anywhere I could fine easily last night or this morning.....
It sounds like she made a pretty big mistake and it smacks of NASCAR that it i=has not received the attention of Dixon's brain-fade.....
Must be something in the water up there....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Herr
And what about Foyt4? Milka might have had to move over to avoid hitting the car in front but was was Foyt4 doing there anyway? He was suppose to be behind her.
OMG Did I just defend Milka?
What is it with the Danica! fans? Have they caught the "blame the other person" disease from her? Whenever she shows a lack of judgment or makes a mistake, they always seem to try to deflect or minimize the situation by presenting some conspiracy theory that makes no sense. Either she had a valid "reason", it was someone else's fault, driver xyz did something even worse, the story is made up, or there was something wrong with the car. She ALWAYS has something wrong with her car. Its steering problems, understeer, no rear grip, yatta yatta yatta. Its never her fault according to them. In this case, some silly fans have even suggested the Dixon crew threw the tire in front of her causing a crash. Incredible. At least BB had the guts to finally penalize her, even if it was just a drive-through.
If you want to see the video, it is at indy500.com. Unlike indycar.com, they post every incident in the video library and let you judge for yourself. The question I have is why did she even think it was ok to do a long smoky burn out through all of the other pit boxes. NONE of the other drivers in the video saw any need to play top-fuel dragster and they all moved out into the proper pit lane after leaving their pit. What was her problem?
However, someone posted a video on YouTube that has a bit more. After she hit the wall, only one of Danica!'s crew started down pit lane and then stopped. They turned around and walked slowly back to their pit. I do remember watching the online coverage and her crew turned around and looked the other way. When the crew did finally wonder down to pull her back, they walked pretty slowly. I guess when you throw your team under the bus on a regular basis their motivation level isn't very high.
If Mario spins in the pits, and Danica spins in the pits, Danica must be as good as Mario...?Quote:
Originally Posted by gofastandwynn
Good point.
I watched the Indy500.com video and also read the story in autosport.com this morning about the race and it quoted Danica as saying she hit a tire that caused her to spin - it also said she apologized for the incident.
I am glad she apologized. The video does not seem to show her hitting anything to cause the spin- just getting on the gas too hard and losing control of the car - kind of like a teenage guy showing off if you ask me.... although I wonder i the diff did something funny or if there might be some traction control device that kicked in suddenly (you know -like the one at Bennetton in 1995 that they "forgot" to remove from the software but was not working ;) !!)
Well, at least both of the top openwheel series racing this weekend seemed to exhibit an unusual amount of brain fade (although at least conditions at Silverstone warranted mistakes)...
Hey, sometimes I kill perfectly good plants doing stupid things ( I am a 4th generation nursery owner and grow 500,000+/- shrubs a year).... it can happen.....
Mario had his share of brain fade in his day... you gotta love the safety truck incident.... It seems to me he was pretty good a deflecting blame too... almost as good as Danica....Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDomm
that being said - well, obviously, Danica is no Mario (I don't really think that was implied - but I do not want anyone to think I even come close to thinking there is a legit comparison of their driving skills).
Yeah, I was just joking about the Mario thing.
I was at the Glen. I did see a tire get away, and originally thought it came off of her car. However, there was a replay on the "big screen", and it looked like the loose tire was behind her. She definitely had 4 tires on her car after the incident.
No connection between right foot and frontal lobe?
Perhaps the "fly-by-wire" connection between the CPU and throttle actuator failed :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Dagger
It's a pity Briscoe wasn't alongside her so that he could've helped straighten her up....
It would be interesting to see how many Pit road incidents Danica has had over her career in the IRL compared to other drivers in the same time period.
Yes you did and in fact I have to agree with you. This is one time that I think Duno deserves the benefit of the doubt. She moved to avoid whomever was in front of her. She is the one that got hit. When I saw Foyt gesticulating ,pounding the steering wheel etcetra it gave the impression of being wronged. Sorry.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyvop
As for Danica, well, her ability to take out crews and cars is only surpassed by the adulation bestowed on her by ESPN and Jack Arute.
Dancia is so protected that if you discuss her in any negative light over at the other forum, you will be suspended(me and others), the thread will be closed down, yada yada yada. I am suprised the moderators have not shut this down.
I have seen nothing on SportsCenter, nothing but baseball and Tennis. Danica is off limits. Funny how she calls out Briscoe, makes a big stink of his incident, but she is mum on hers.
She's good , she's bad, she has talent she is talentless etc etc etc.
Another long tread debating her merits means she's worth every penny she gets paid because people do like to talk about her.
Ain't that the truth. Ok, just for the record (I hope we are still allowed to present factual data), anyone can go to indy500.com and view the incident frame by frame on the video. A couple things pop out and offer some explanations.Quote:
Originally Posted by OWFan19
1. She did apparently hit a tire leaving her pit, her own left rear. The video shows it in the air and apparently hit by Mutoh. That may indeed be the cause of the drive through.
2. When she hit the tire, it didn't change her trajectory, the car remained straight as shown from her in-car looking out the back.
3. The in-car shows her car actually began to rotate toward pit wall before her left rear hit the paint. The tire marks shows a consistent arc out and over the paint.
4. After she hit the wall, an official can be seen being helped up by one of Wheldon's crew after they dove over the wall. The official had been standing just before the point where she hit the wall.
5. Dixons whole crew was over the wall, including his fueler still holding the hose. He dove over the wall right at the instant of impact.
6. The tire she hit was being held by a crewman who appeared to reach for it to put over the wall just she hit it.
7. When she hit the wall, she let off the brake and slid down the wall a small amount until she hit the tire.
8. The tire impact lifted her whole car into the air and deflected it back into pitlane and not along the wall where the crew was standing. The tire helped prevent them from being hit directly
9. Her wing did hit at least one crewman including the one who set it on top of her front tires.
10. Dixons crew then just walked away. No one was in any hurry to come to her aid, including her own crew.
She was very lucky as she hit between where people were moving along the wall (as they would be right after a stop) and the tire pushed her away from the crew. That was very close to a disaster. One can only guess what would have happened if the official was a bit less observant or agile or she would have pinned the fueler to the wall. I can accept her apology, but lets see if it changes her behavior next time.
I do expect that the apologists will tear this apart like the Zapruter film and provide all kinds of explanantions. Thats ok, everyone has their own opinions. This happens to be mine.
By the way, some celebrities today get lots of press but lots of negative press doesn't improve your value, it eventually destroys it in a very public way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by downtowndeco
Spoken like a true believer. Any one up for aother glass of Jim Jones Grape?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blancvino
Don't read something into my post that isn't there just because you have a bias.
People like her. They like to talk about her. She helps the IRL through her populartity. Perhaps that is the true reason so many have a beef with her. They'd love to see the IRL falter & fade like that other series. You know, the "If we can succeed we don't want anyone to succeed" mentality.
I'll let your post history do the talking.Quote:
Originally Posted by downtowndeco
http://www.motorsportforums.com/foru...earchid=318852
I think she owes Brisco an apology, too.
Jeff
Likewise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blancvino
Is Danica really blonde? If its true she reported her car was pulling a little to the right then why didn't she compensate when leaving the pits? Lighting up the rears like that just amplified the problem. Its a blessing nobody got hurt.
For Danica supporters and detractors alike - I am not sure this incident has much to do with "Danica" per se. It is about a professional racing driver who has been willing to publicly call out his/her fellow drivers on more than one occasion. It is about the same driver making a VERY big and VERY amateur mistake and therefore reaping what he/she sows....
There was no tire, the paint didn't twist her car around. She lost it, that smiple. She isn't the greatest driver in the world. Yes she is the best woman out there, but she is still an average driver who gets far more stress and attention than her skills warrant.
One reason this incident is getting so much attention is that the racing was just so dull. More happened under those two caution periods than happened on track the entire race. I know it has history and the drivers like it, but it needs to go. Bring on Cleveland on the 4th of July next year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS
There WAS a tire, look at the video at www.indy500.com . It can be seen in the air. What is NOT clear from the video is if she actually hit it or not. And what is even LESS clear is did it REALLY affect here pit exit. From the video posted on indy500.com it does not look like it affected her trajectory at all. I too, think she lit up the tires WAY too much and lost it.
Gary
My thoughts exactly, but as I mentioned last week when Manning publicly call out his fellow drivers, the outrage is less when is a man, almost no one got outrage at Manning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris R
If Manning makes a mistake I will feel he was reaping what he sows, but I donīt think the thread would be as long as this one.
Looked like she forgot you turn left to get out of the pits at the glen instead of right.
oh yeah - the tire is there - it looks like her front left tire - but like Gary says - it does not look like that caused the issue unless it just got her out of synch mentally.....
Actually she came in contact with three tires.
One saved a Penkse crew member from possible injury, the tire in the 2nd clip followed her down pit lane, the tire in the 3rd clip went backwards and appeared to hit the car behind her. She couldn't pull out left because the car had not moved over. She would have been better off waiting for the car to go by instead of fighting for the position. Who gave her the green light to leave the pit box anyway? No wonder the crew didn't run to her rescue.....
after seeing the video, she lost control, maybe from smoking the tires for that long, but I never saw her hit a tire causing her to lose control, she lost it on her own, luckly none of the Target pitcrew members were hit, this could've been much worse than it really was.
plus the Target guys aren't gonna care about Danica, I think most of of them prolly has has enough of her, so they picked up their stuff and carried on with their job in hand (along with the one member basically kicking the front wing back to her)
In the ICS. Katherine Legge might be surprising given a comparable opportunity.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS
Every series needs a drama queen. This one just happens to wear a dress on her evening out.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS