Girl power not enough at soaking Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS: Maybe this is the surest sign that women racers are no different than their male rivals: Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno were all ticked off after the Indianapolis 500.
Patrick worried she had squandered her best chance yet to finally win an IndyCar race Sunday. Fisher fumed about pit miscues that kept her from running closer to the front. Duno kicked herself for losing control after starting better than expected.
Hey, what about being the first trio of women to run a major American race?
"It's cool," Fisher told a reporter in the soggy paddock. "But we'll wait and see how you guys analyze it."
Patrick, right on the tail of leader Tony Kanaan after a three-hour rain delay, wound up eighth for the second year in a row, doomed by less-than-stellar pit stops, lapped traffic and another round of storms that lopped off the final 34 laps.
Teammate Dario Franchitti crossed the finish line in a driving rain, taking the checkered flag along with a yellow. Patrick could only wonder what might have been had the skies had not opened up for the second time.
"This elusive win keeps sitting on my shoulder," Patrick said, shaking her head. "Eighth is not anything like we wanted, especially since we were running second behind Tony for a long time. It's definitely a disappointing day."
Patrick has three straight top-10 finishes in the 500, beginning with her memorable fourth-place showing as a rookie when she was leading in the closing laps but had to back off the throttle to conserve fuel.
This time, she dipped into the pits with the rest of the leaders on lap 155, only to be left behind when Franchitti and several other cars stayed on the track. Their strategy paid off when two more cautions slowed the pace, and the rain returned, ending the race.
"This is probably the most frustrating of all," Patrick said, the words rolling slowly off her lips for emphasis. "I really felt like I had a chance. I really had a fast car."
Agencies
(China Daily 05/29/2007 page23)
