Michael Andretti to be Danica's Race Strategist

[Knowlesy]

*facepalm*

[DeclanB]

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

Sorry guys, Danica is the best female driver now, that ever has been, and ever will be. Give this woman credit, she can drive!!!

Better than Jutta Kleinschmidt? Not a chance in hell.
Better than Ashley Force? Nope.
That covers 'the now'

Better than Anna Beatriz? Probably not
Better than Simona De Dilvestro? Probably not
That covers the 'ever will be'.

Better than Ellen Lohr? No!
Better than Lella Lombardi? No!
Better than Michele Mouton? No!
Better than Shirley Muldowney? Absolutely not!
That covers the 'that ever has been'.


After her win lucky win in Japan, she was a non factor in 2008. See below:

Did the race win have a positive effect on her performance during the rest of the season? Was it indicative of her real ability or just a flukey one off.

I decided to have a look at the points table from Kansas Speedway (in other words from immediately after Motegi) onwards and this is what I found:

1. Dixon - 546 pts
2. Helio - 517 pts
3. Kanaan - 424 pts
4. Wheldon - 407 pts
5. Briscoe - 401 pts
6. Marco - 298 pts
7. Hunter-Reay - 295 pts
8. Wilson - 291 pts
9. Mutoh - 287 pts
10. Servia - 284 pts
11. Patrick - 281pts
12. Vitor - 278 pts


So after her historic and somewhat fortunate victory (against a reduced field) she was beaten in points by:

All of her team mates including the rookie.
Every driver in a 'Big 3' Car.
Two 'transition*' Drivers.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (America's best open wheel driver IMHO)

She only beat Vitor by 3 points. She finished in points where she finished and nobody can deny that. But it was because of a flukey win and the uncanny ability to finish between 6th and 10th almost every week. That is real championship form isn't it?

This doesn't even include her laughable performance in Australia.

With the CCWS teams having even more experience of the Dallara in 2009, it means that her competition will be even stiffer this season. If she finished 6th in points in 2009 that would be a fairly remarkable achievement.

She will be beaten in points by, at the very least, the following:

Briscoe (Champion in 2009)
Power/Castroneves
Dixon
Franchitti
Kanaan
Marco Andretti
Graham Rahal
Dan Wheldon

[DeclanB]

Originally Posted by andy_b

thread of the year! You sure this isn't a wind-up. I need to send this to Midweek Motorsports on RLM! Mrs Hospital has her moments, but she simply is not consistant or have enough technical ability...something I'd alsmost direct at her new race engineer.


Danica fan - you forgor Tiffany Dell. She was a great racer, couple of F1 starts in the 70's. She did get the blame for Mansell not seeing a bloody big bridge at Donington in Touring Cars though

Thanks Andy. We may well discuss this on the show next week, it is a clear case of 'Hospenthal Delusion'. There has been a hilarious epidemic of this on www.indycar.com's talkback forum.

[Graz]

Slightly off topic but what about Sarah Fisher? I always thought that she's a far better driver than D Patrick. I'd like to see her get a properly funded full season. So far, she's only pencilled in for a handful of drives this year, 4 I think.

[Félix]

Someone should get the stats of every driver who beats these impressive 6th and 7th places (with fourths at times, woohoo!) I guess we can come up with 10 drivers more impressive in the last 5 years. And that's only IRL, a place where the drivers you fight for a 9th place aren't necessarily turbo-talented (that's when she's not fighting at the back of the pack with talented rent-a-drivers).

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Graz

Slightly off topic but what about Sarah Fisher? I always thought that she's a far better driver than D Patrick. I'd like to see her get a properly funded full season. So far, she's only pencilled in for a handful of drives this year, 4 I think.

Sarah can turn a quick lap in qualifying but like most women when it comes to actual racing the hormones let them down and once you put other cars around them racing them it's all out the window.

She sounds like a nice person but she had a number of years to show her stuff and just couldn't get the job done. Hence I think you'll see her as part time for a while before fading away.

[Taprobane]

In his fourth season Dan Wheldon won the IRL title
Scott Dixon did it in his third.

Whats so special about Danica's stats?

(p.s I'd say Mike Conway will thrash her at least on the road courses aswell.)

[Armco Bender]

Dutton..........I hope Danica hunts you down and slaps 7 bells out of you....



Shes always in with a runners chance of winning the Indy 500,just like all the other drivers that start the race,if the race pans out her way she could end up drinking the milk.

[Knowlesy]

You could say that about anybody. And I include Milka Duno in this.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

You could say that about anybody. And I include Milka Duno in this.

Milka drinking the milk? I Duno about that.

[nic.v814]

Originally Posted by Taprobane

In his fourth season Dan Wheldon won the IRL title
Scott Dixon did it in his third.

Whats so special about Danica's stats?

(p.s I'd say Mike Conway will thrash her at least on the road courses aswell.)

Scott dixon won the title in his first year in the irl.

At the end of the day danica isnt the best driver out there and she isnt the worst she managed to beat marco in the standings last year which is a pretty good effort. But she will never win a championship simply because she isnt fast enough on road circuits and isnt consistent on ovals.

[icemachine]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

*facepalm*

[Dutton]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

Dutton..........I hope Danica hunts you down and slaps 7 bells out of you....

Shes always in with a runners chance of winning the Indy 500,just like all the other drivers that start the race,if the race pans out her way she could end up drinking the milk.

She certainly is in with a shot.

She is also in with a shot of winning every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of leading every lap of every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of getting pole for every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of getting fastest lap in every race she competes in from now until her death.

Something being possible does not make it likely.

[Teretonga]

To say someone is in with a shot it usually means that it is likely or has a significantly better than even (50/50) chance of it happening.

To say Danica is in with a shot would mean she is a probable cintender for victory, not an outside chance. That would mean at least 60/40-75/25 chance of victory or being an end of event contender for the spot.

I don't see that on anything like a regular basis. Occasional maybe, but not regularly.

[johntt]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

Shes always in with a runners chance of winning the Indy 500,just like all the other drivers that start the race,if the race pans out her way she could end up drinking the milk.

Pray such a thing never happens. It would inflate her already oversized ego and sense of self worth.

She is an odious human being, a product of a media hype machine who believes her own hype.

[luke]

Surfers Paradise was fantastic really, she was way off the pace the whole weekend yet how many years has she driven that machinery? In one of the best teams, how many times did she stall and do silly things in one race? Like Marco for andretti/green driver she needs to get her act together, if either don't improve this year they never will and surely aren't ever good enough to reach further milestones. Feel sorry for TK.

[NAC]

Originally Posted by Dutton

She certainly is in with a shot.

She is also in with a shot of winning every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of leading every lap of every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of getting pole for every race she competes in from now until her death.

She is in with a shot of getting fastest lap in every race she competes in from now until her death.

Something being possible does not make it likely.

This is almost as good as the "Will Danica ever a race" thread. Pitty we cant have that thread back. It was loads of fun

[luke]

Originally Posted by NAC

This is almost as good as the "Will Danica ever a race" thread. Pitty we cant have that thread back. It was loads of fun

[Flyin Ryan]

Originally Posted by johntt

Pray such a thing never happens. It would inflate her already oversized ego and sense of self worth.

She is an odious human being, a product of a media hype machine who believes her own hype.

Lewis Hamilton says hi.

I'm sorry, but for any person that reads and consumes anything the British media puts out accusing someone else of being the product of a media hype machine loses all credibility in my eyes. Let's see: Jenson Button. The English national teams in soccer, rugby, and cricket. Jenson Button. Jaguar F1. Jenson Button. Lewis Hamilton will beat all of Schumacher's records after winning his first championship. Jenson Button. England were 3 to 1 odds to win the 2006 World Cup (I don't care, anyone that actually took those odds betting on England to win are some of the dumbest people to ever walk this planet.), let's see what else...ooh, I forgot, Jenson Button.

If she won Indy, she'd get more fans to watch the sport, which would be good for the sport. Sorry, Scott Dixon can walk down the street and no one would have a clue who he is.

[nic.v814]

Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan

Lewis Hamilton says hi.

If she won Indy, she'd get more fans to watch the sport, which would be good for the sport.

Yea but you would never hear the end of it and i think her arguing with other drivers is more entertaining and better for the sport.

If she won Indy, she'd get more fans to watch the sport, which would be good for the sport. Sorry, Scott Dixon can walk down the street and no one would have a clue who he is.

Thats more to do with her being on those go daddy ads i would think

[Flyin Ryan]

Originally Posted by nic.v814

Yea but you would never hear the end of it and i think her arguing with other drivers is more entertaining and better for the sport.

It is good for the sport if it doesn't occur too often, it help sells tickets. NASCAR has done this to the hilt and it's paid off in big money and so did Formula One in the late 1980s with Prost and Senna.

[nic.v814]

Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan

It is good for the sport if it doesn't occur too often, it help sells tickets. NASCAR has done this to the hilt and it's paid off in big money and so did Formula One in the late 1980s with Prost and Senna.

Do you reckon her and sarah fisher in a jelly wrestling match would increase viewers by much?

[Flyin Ryan]

Originally Posted by nic.v814

Do you reckon her and sarah fisher in a jelly wrestling match would increase viewers by much?

Prost and Senna did that?

[NAC]

Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan

If she won Indy, she'd get more fans to watch the sport, which would be good for the sport. Sorry, Scott Dixon can walk down the street and no one would have a clue who he is.

Fantastic, lets go ask all the drivers to move aside so Danica can win the 500 and drive more fans to watch the sport

[johntt]

Originally Posted by NAC

Fantastic, lets go ask all the drivers to move aside so Danica can win the 500 and drive more fans to watch the sport

Allegedly Helio was told to do that in Japan....

Make you think what might happen this year. The IRL does have a bit of a track record of fiddling results, Indy 2002 anyone?