The Official Danica Patrick Fan Site

Motegi - 2009

Saturday, September 19, 10:30pm, Versus.

Permalink Reply by Cerberus on August 30, 2009 at 3:34pm: Champ Car teams have zero data about this track, which is different and unique, so it will be interesting to see if, nevertheless, they will be able to carry momentum and go well here. I say they will play conservatively, since there isn't a lot of track time as usual and the weather is pretty bad, April or September is no big difference, MotoGP experienced rain several times in September in the past, I guess they were quite happy to swap dates with IRL.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Damon on August 30, 2009 at 3:41pm: Hm.......interesting choice for the picture. I was kinda hoping for a shot of her posing with the trophy myself, but this one's pretty solid too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Damon on August 30, 2009 at 3:47pm: Considering some of the drivers there on the Motegi oval will be first timers, I wonder if the race will play out the way it usually does: Lap 1 crash, fairly long green flag stints with at least one pit stop under green, then a yellow between lap 140-150, followed by the pit stops/annual Motegi strategy gamble some teams use by bringing their driver back in to top off and then hope to save enough fuel to get to the end, if not win it if everybody else has to pit under green.

Or will it be something dramatically different with hard racing like we've seen the last two 1.5 mile ovals throughout the race, which never happens at Motegi.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on August 30, 2009 at 4:05pm: Don, Great graphic. Love the "Motegi" font you designed. Very original.
Lotta pressure on Danica to return as last year's winner, considering she has been (along with the whole team) in a slough of despond lately. Maybe it *is* a magic track for her and she can repeat. Let's hope so.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cerberus on August 30, 2009 at 4:26pm: I think there will be a fair amount of side-by-side racing, but we can forget packs. The downforce required here is higher than what we see for D-Shaped ovals, especially on the front end, which means that cars will be much more distant from each other. They even have to brake, or at least lift, in turn 3-4, we may see some inside moves, but since the high groove is dirty nobody will try to hang in there. Motegi is tough, it's difficult to find a good handling not only in traffic but also in clean air, and yes, I think the race will come down to fuel mileage, it's been that way since forever...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by DanicaFans on August 30, 2009 at 6:42pm: With its egg-shaped layout, Motegi requires downshifting through turns 3 and 4. It will be interesting to see how the new aero package and "push to pass" play there.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by DanicaFans on August 30, 2009 at 6:45pm: I thought about that, but decided to once again go with the image of Danica as samurai. Her helmet is very similar to the trophy she took home last year.

Here's last year's race poster:; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Fernanda Díaz on August 30, 2009 at 8:00pm: Great motegi graphic!!I love it!
I hope Danica and the team get better in this race..
They need it..; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 15, 2009 at 8:40pm: Danica Patrick on the Indy Japan 300:

"I'm really looking forward to this weekend. It's a very special feeling to be returning to Japan after winning there last year. I love the track. I've had some good results there. Winning there last year was such an unbelievable experience. There are so many great IndyCar fans in Japan; I'd love to give then a repeat performance."; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Damon on September 17, 2009 at 3:22pm: They got the hair right: http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=15135; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on September 17, 2009 at 3:53pm: http://www.indy500.com/photos/2009/09/17/1048/Indy_Japan_300_-_Setu...

http://www.indy500.com/photos/2009/09/17/1048/Indy_Japan_300_-_Setu...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Damon on September 17, 2009 at 9:47pm: First practice in the books, Helio and Graham are 1-2 and the only drivers over 200 mph in that session.

AGR Update: Danica was P7 and hung in the top 4 for a good chunk of the session, but with Marco 13th, Tony 14th and Hideki 16th, with the latter three a mph or more slower than Danica and she's over 1 mph slower than the top 2.

Amazing to see how far AGR has slipped in terms of pure speed, especially compared to N/H/L and Graham.; ▶ Reply to This