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Danica makes Indy history
20/04/2008 13:45 - (SA)
Motegi - Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history on Sunday, taking the Indy Japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps.
Patrick finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves after leader Scott Dixon went in for a pit stop with five laps remaining.
"It's a long time coming. Finally," Patrick said. "It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me. I knew I was on the same strategy as Helio and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn't believe it. This is fabulous."
Patrick, who had a winning time of one hour, 51 minutes, 02.6739 seconds, took the lead from Castroneves on 198th lap of the 200-lap race.
The race was rescheduled for Sunday because of wet track conditions Saturday on the 1.5-mile (2.4km) Twin Ring Motegi oval.
Patrick won in her fourth season in the series.
She finished a career-best seventh in season standings last year, and was second in the race at Detroit's Belle Isle.
At the 2005 Indy 500, she nearly won the pole and became the first female driver to lead the race, finishing fourth. It was the best finish by a woman at Indy, and helped her take rookie of the year honors.
Castroneves, who was awarded pole position after qualifying was rained out, said Patrick ran a great race.
"With five laps to go, I was saving fuel," said Castroneves. "When Danica passed me, I realised she was the leader. She did a great job, passed me fair and square and that shows you how competitive our series is."
Dixon, who took the lead from Castroneves on the 93rd lap, finished third, 10.0559 seconds behind Patrick.
- AP
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