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Sorry, but the handling issues may have come from being all over track. She seemed to be taking very different lines than anyone else - even lap to lap. Slowing for one car only impacts one lap, not every lap.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
Competition this years looks a lot stronger than previous years. Just getting out of the first qualifying session into the top 12 isn't going to be easy. The fast 6 should really be entertaining.
7 tenths on the rest of the field? Powers was flying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lousada
Yeah, very good point. I didn't realize Will was THAT much faster than Dixon in P2 there.
DF...I mean this very respectfully. If your request to give her a break holds water, then why can we go back through just about every single practice and qualifying session for the past (insert # of seasons here) and find her mired at the back? She used to be mid-pack until the merger when the quality of competition went up slightly. The quality is getting better and better every year and she keeps going further and further back. There are no excuses when it is session after session after session...and so on. If it is handling, why are her teammates all competitive? If it is handling, why is she the only one not able to figure it out? That is what she/you said after Barber, after Brazil...etc. When is it time to just admit she isn't that good...but you can still like her?Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
FYI, I was a huge Rick Mears fan growing up. The guy was an all around talent until his feet were crushed in an accident (Riverside I believe?). When he made his comeback, he was never as competitive on road & street courses. He was probably by far the best ever on strictly ovals though. I rooted for him race in and race out no matter what but I knew when he was in his element and when he wasn't.
Now make no mistake, Danica is no Rick Mears, and driving these cars today is like a stroll in the park compared to the glory days of all of auto racing...but...if you are going to root for her, great!!! Root for her with all your passion...but maybe you should present that passion to all of us with a hint of realism. She isn't very good...it is beyond a theory, it is a proven fact. She can run at the tail of a pack on a course where she doesn't have to lift, save your hopes of a miracle for a day when they run on those types of courses. In the meantime, try to get to know the other drivers a little so you can enjoy the competitive side of the sport instead of just the novelty side. I'm a PT fan now, look what I have to deal with, he isn't even full-time! So I watch objectively rooting for the ultimate competition level, not just my favorite driver.
What do you think?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
Wow, taking lessons from her car owner huh? It's always someone else's fault. Michael the Whiner, lived by that axiom.
Gary
It was Sanair.Quote:
Originally Posted by Starter
The story really is Danica is barely even the fastest woman, and considering her experience, the bloom is finally off the rose. This could be the year maybe the media wakes up to the reality that Danica Patrick is the Anna Kournakova of Racing, without the personality.
Her little hissy fit in the pits is just more evidence of her lack of tact, and her lack of poise in dealing with adversity. It is all fine in Danica's world when people kiss her heiney on the track. Of course, these guys wont, and they wont cut her one ounce of slack. She has alienated most of the guys on some level to the point I wouldn't doubt people block her almost out of reflex just to rattle her.
The fact is on road/street circuits, she is no further ahead than she was 5 years ago, and the level of competition has gotten a lot more fierce. She is credible and able to keep up to apoint, but no threat to win. No driver wants to be no threat to win....
Rick was the bomb!Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
side story for ya....back in the early seventies my father and uncle raced a twoseater dune buggy in the baja 1000's etc.....against guys like mears, jones, evans etc...
anyhow....one year, i was 5 or 6 barely old enough to remember, they were running the Mint400 outside Las Vegas.....well the rest of the family was the unofficial pit crew in our Volkswagon bus...so were out in the nevada dessert and we come across none other than Rick Mears Broken down in the middle of nowhere with a tire that had broken off his racecar.....so he climbed into the back of the Bus with entire family, wheel and all, and we took him to the next check point...
needless to say we were huge Mears fans during his career....and rooted for him every May....he was (is!) magic at the speedway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVfD1FU28cM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hkVLBZlG2w&NR=1
Milka is currenty 7 seconds off pace.
when Danica goes to Nascar fulltime in 2011 will you no longer be an openwheel fan?Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
Power to the top again....
but how about Viso in at p2...
Practice Session 3 Results..
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e.../practice3.jpg
Here are the Qualifying Groups..
Group 1
#2 Raphael Matos
#3 Helio Castroneves
#4 Dan Wheldon
#6 Ryan Briscoe
#7 Danica Patrick
#8 EJ Viso
#10 Dario Franchitti
#14 Vitor Meira
#22 Justin Wilson
#26 Marco Andretti
#37 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#77 Alex Tagliani
Group 2
#5 Takuma Sato
#9 Scott Dixon
#11 Tony Kanaan
#12 Will Power
#18 Milka Duno
#19 Alex Lloyd
#24 Mike Conway
#32 Mario Moraes
#34 Mario Romancini
#67 Graham Rahal
#78 Simona De Silvestro
#06 Hideki Mutoh
Says a lot about driver skill on roads/streets when the same Dale Coyne car was running up front in practice sessions last year, and this year with Milka is last and a full 5+ seconds off the next slowest car's pace.
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Originally Posted by NickFalzone
ya think it says more about Milka or Justin?
Very cool story Ken...thanks for sharing. As you well know not only was he an amazing talent be a real classy guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Total shock.... Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe did not make the Fast 6 from Group 1.
Duno spins out. What a waste!
The Fast 12 drivers to move on are..
Scott Dixon
Tony Kanaan
Will Power
Mike Conway
Takuma Sato
Hideki Mutoh
Helio Castroneves
Marco Andretti
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Justin Wilson
EJ Viso
Alex Tagliani
Hm, all of the AGR drivers made the fast 12. Oh, except for one.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
The Firestone Fast 6 are...
Will Power
Scott Dixon
Tony Kanaan
Marco Andretti
Justin Wilson
Helio Castroneves
Congrats to Will Power. He gets the pole!
power p1 is no suprise...
but TK at p2 is a pleasant suprise
Yes, AA is absolutely back on their game if there was any doubt after Brazil. Not being an insider, I have to wonder what is the big difference not only from last year but fact is they've been going backwards little by little each of the past few years. Personally, I'm not a believer that it is RHR, at least not soley. RHR is good and I think everybody wants him out there, myself included. But the fact is with a few exceptions he's always been a mid-packer...sort of like Tagliani and Carpentier to make a comparison. Maybe TK is more focused this year after his personal problems last year? Maybe a combo of a lot of things. My theory based on what I see and what I've read between the lines is that the team was focused on 1 car last year more than anything. Makes sense because this 1 car is the money maker and the money might have been going elsewhere if not given every chance to be #1. Makes sense all things considered. At any rate, good to see AA back in the mix and frankly, what a competitive field from #2 through about #18.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Two words: Tom Anderson. He's now their senior VP of race operations after doing great work in the past for Ganassi and Fernandez Racing. Probably helping right the ship there.Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
Here is the starting grid..
Row 1
#12 Will Power
#11 Tony Kanaan
Row 2
#9 Scott Dixon
#22 Justin Wilson
Row 3
#3 Helio Castroneves
#26 Marco Andretti
Row 4
#37 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#77 Alex Tagliani
Row 5
#8 EJ Viso
#24 Mike Conway
Row 6
#5 Takuma Sato
#06 Hideki Mutoh
Row 7
#10 Dario Franchitti
#78 Simona De Silvestro
Row 8
#4 Dan Wheldon
#67 Graham Rahal
Row 9
#14 Vitor Meira
#34 Mario Romancini
Row 10
#6 Ryan Briscoe
#32 Mario Moraes
Row 11
#7 Danica Patrick
#19 Alex Lloyd
Row 12
#2 Raphael Matos
#18 Milka Duno
so d.... what do you think about your girls performance today?
I thought she would do better than that. She was starting to put down some good laps.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
Don't worry Chad. It almost certain she will move up in the race.
It is going to be hard to go backwards this time! :eek:
I'm actually going to cut her some slack for once! Even though she's been pretty much last in every session, she has closed the gap between her and 2nd place. I refuse to compare anybody to Will at the moment, he's in a league of his own. For some reason, St. Pete is one of her better road courses and her times aren't that far out of whack. Given that she's pretty much going to drive around like she normally does tomorrow, she'll probably stay out of trouble and could pull off a top 14. There is going to be a ton of attrition, which will also play into the strategy for those at the back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Easy Drifter
Now that being said, she's still practically last, and has been pretty much every session. It is a little weird how even when she runs with times that competitive she still somehow always ends up at the back. You'd think sooner or later a blink of an eye she'd move up a position or 2.
Just because I'm giving her some slack doesn't mean she doesn't suck...she still does...that won't change. It hasn't in 14 years of professional racing, she isn't going to get any better. WYSIWYG.
Yeah, yeah, you guys give her "crap" now but wait until we get back on the ovals and she dominates them. Expect her in the top 5 at every oval track this year. :)
It's all well and good being fast on the ovals, but this is a 17 RACE season, of which only 8 are ovals. There are 9 road/street courses, so if she is really serious about winning and challenging for championships in IndyCar then she has to be fast on ovals and fast on road/street courses as well. Personally, I hope she stays away from NASCAR and sticks with IndyCar, but I fear that she'll eventually go NASCAR full-time because they only have 2 road courses in a 35-race season and she's already commented on how more and more road/street courses have filled up the IndyCar calender. She prefers the wheel to wheel of oval racing, so NASCAR, probably, awaits.
You are right on all accounts but the problem is she sucks in NASCAR too! She hasn't ever been really competitive at any professional level. NASCAR is as high of level as it gets in US auto racing right at the moment and the charade will end there a little quicker. I called it 2 years ago and the crumbs are starting to fall on the floor...the circus is slowly grinding to a halt for her. She WILL go to NASCAR full-time, it is the only way to extend the inevitable.Quote:
Originally Posted by GRW1983
I agree, if she does do NASCAR full-time all she will do is enhance her paycheck. I know she won't, but at the very least she should stick to her 3 year IndyCar contract and see what happens.
It will be interesting to see how much ABC yaps about her tomorrow especially if Simona does well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanicaFan
why did you THINK she would do better?
*i understand she is your your favorite driver and you WANTED her to do better
Simona can run circles over Danica.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken
I think I`ll re-register as SimonaFan
Without regard to Danica in anyway...It is really really hard not to be impressed with Simona so far. HVM is not the strongest team out there and they're only a 1 car team. Viso and Doornbos neither one were this competitive last year. All credit to her an HVM. They'll struggle on the ovals as would be expected but to me they are kind of the Dale Coyne story this year. Rooting for them to stay solid.
And yes, obviously she is the real deal.
In the first group, which would be expected to be slower, three drivers went faster than Simona, so it's not like the girl hit it out of the park here. Based on times she's 17th. You should re-register as Simona Fan, as it's just as ridiculous to make her the hero here as making Danica the hero.
I'm confused how the women seem to develop this deep devotion.
I'm even more confused on why Matos did so poorly.
I don't think pointing out that she is helping a sub-par team perform over their expectation level is making her a hero.Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage
On another note, in a recent interview in the St. Pete Times Danica had a classic quote about street racing.
Danica - "It's very difficult to be faster than someone else."