Charlie944

Trust me she even looks better in person!

wombat7

Yeah she definately looks better in person. I spent Saturday and Sunday hanging around the garages at the track and got to see her a couple times. All I can say is DAYUM!! Too bad she's engaged though

GUMBALL

I remember overhearing a conversation between Danica, Christian Fittipaldi and Christiano DiMatta at Long Beach - they were talking about the British Formula Ford Festival (where she finished second) she was saying that she was disappointed that she did not win, she felt that an opportunity had been missed. Christiano then replied that when he ran it, he didn't even qualify for the feature.......

That was the year at Long Beach that she out qualified Tommy Kendall for the pole in the Toyota Celebrity race.......

Definitely a talent to watch!

wombat7

What does everyone think about her possibilites to become the first female F1 driver??

JCP911S

After almost 10 years instructing I am convinced there is nothing physical that prevents women from driving a race car as well as men. Physically, stamina is more important than outright strength.... and the rest, as they say, is 100% mental. Its really a matter of temperment and socialization, and personal competitiveness.

That said, it is very difficult to break into F1 from USA. Test and practice time is very restricted... drivers who don't come up through the system are at a real disadvantage, and there are only a couple of competitive teams... if you don't get a top seat, you are just window dressing...

Personally, I think the top open wheel folks here are just as good as the bulk of the F1 guys... if you can win here, no reason you couldn't be competitive in F1 given the right team.

Geo

She would not become the first female F1 driver. Desire Wilson actually won a non-championship race at Brands Hatch many years ago.

911

Geo is correct. I think Desire did that in the late '70s. Then, there was also Lella Lombardi (sp) who drove in the '75 season. She is also the first female to score a World Championship point and she did this in the Spanish GP that year with a 6th place finish (although the race was cut short so the drivers were awarded 1/2 points).

wombat7

So I stand corrected and once again exhibit my ignorance,

How about the first female F1 driver in the modern era?

JCP you make a good point about the open wheel guys over here being just as good as some of the F1 guys... Just look at JPM

JCP911S

F1 is a racket IMHO... I always felt the competition and depth of the CART series in its prime was superior... certainly it was more entertaining racing. At one time there were more former World Champs competing in CART than F1 (Mario, Fittipaldi, Mansell).

I'd really like to see the split end....doesn;t matter how...perhaps what is left of CART disappear and IRL add some road racing... we'd be right back.

However my theory is the France Family will not tolerate a competitor to NASCAR, and will do whatever they can to split the Open-wheel market so it is not economically viable (and therefore a competitor to Nextel Cup). They are doing it in Sports Car racing (which demonstrates to me they will take no threat lightly).

Looks to me like IRL is really drawing the critical mass of teams required to accomplish that... I for one am all for it... someone like Danica has the potential drawing power to bring in the more casual viewer... its all about ratings, ratings ratings.... I'd like to see her have some success (and not just becasue she's a doll...).. it would really be good for open wheel racing.

Geo

Actually.....

The "modern era" is considered to be after the mid 50s or so (54 I think) when the current world championship structure was born. But I know what you mean. Sort of. Define "modern."

Geo

Yep. It's run by the Golden Rule. Bernie has the gold so Bernie makes the rules. I just hope the manufacturers are sincere and actually DO create a new series when the current Concorde Agreement expires. Every week it seems like there is yet another reason for doing so.

At this point, I almost agree. I just hate Tony Baloney George. I don't think the IRL has a better series by any means. It's just ol' Tony owns the Indy 500 and he was able to wait out the others while CART imploded (for non-sporting reasons) and I think he's going to win. Hell, I'm not sure I've ever even watched a Champ Car race. I have no clue when they are on TV. Both series seem to suck.

At this point I think the IRL winning is a foregone conclusion. I'd love to see somewhere between 33-50% road races and some way for the IRL to have a little more independence from the speedway (read Tony George). But I don't see that happening because, hey, ol' Tony put up the bucks and made the IRL happen. If he wins, I guess he deserves the spoils. I just don't like him or the way he runs things.

ltc

If Tony (IRL is ovals only.....) George wants to surprise people, how about the IRL running the 500 on the oval AND running a race on the F1 road course.

(that is, of course, if Bernie allows anyone outside of F1/SuperCup) to use the road course.

4 Kurves

Actually the modern era starts in 1950. The first World Champion was Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa-Romero.

Al P.

If she does well (and there's no reason to think she won't) I bet she receives an offer that she can't refuse from the France family

Geo

Ah, thanks. I knew it was in the 50s, but didn't wasn't sure of the date - turns out earlier than I thought.