Practice/ qualifying Toronto

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Permalink Reply by Cerberus on July 10, 2009 at 4:22pm

Qualifying doesn't get rained out on a road course.
BTW the car had light damage, a bent suspension and halfshaft, so no problem to fix it.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on July 10, 2009 at 5:38pm

Cerebrus, thanks for bringing me into the 21st century. :-)I have never seen qualifying in rain, because I guess it has not happened in the 4 years I have been following Danica. I know they run in the rain; just didn't tumble to the fact that if they run in rain, they will qualify in rain. Some of the wildest video I've ever seen was an F1 race in rain.

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Permalink Reply by DanicaFans on July 10, 2009 at 7:26pm

This photo from practice today broke my heart.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on July 10, 2009 at 9:04pm

Indeed, Don. It speaks volumes about consternation personified. Let's hope the best for her and that she can hold on to that 5th spot in the standings somehow.

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Permalink Reply by joe graphix on July 10, 2009 at 9:20pm

wow, that is a bummed out pic!
don't coun't our girl out... if we do get rain, the carefull driver will win.
as far as the wreck, most of the field either hit a wall or drove off the run offs...
she always seems to be back in practice... as if she is not out for speed yet, just
finding her spots. i still have high hopes for this one, she can pull it out:)

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Permalink Reply by Bruna on July 10, 2009 at 9:38pm

Man, I just see this photo in Daylife, and broke my heart too.

But I think as Joe. Let's hope.

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Permalink Reply by DanicaFans on July 10, 2009 at 11:12pm

Knowing how hard Danica works to be the best she can be, the sense of disappointment that this picture displays not only shows her frustration but her total dedication to the sport she loves so dearly. While it broke my heart when I first saw it, it only reaffirms my belief that Danica is someone who has been there before and has always managed to find the inner strength to overcome adversity and use it to only become stronger. I wish that everyone had a chance to see her in this light.

That said, Danica has never been one to run fast out of the box, especially on courses she is not familiar with. Time and again I have seen her begin slowly, feeling her way to a solid understanding of the layout of the track, and listening to the whispers of the car telling her what it needs to run solid and consistently. I remember Sonoma in 2007, when the best she could do in early practice was twelth. Frustration was initially the emotion of the day. Following that, she began to steadily increase her pace, and made it into the fast six as the final car. It was during that ten minute session that she and the car came together, and she put herself on the front row, alongside Dario. It was almost the same exact scenario that had played out at Mid-Ohio a couple of weeks earlier, but was even more dramatic because she came from further back to claim her second front row start on a road course.

She needs that at this point in her career - the time to settle into the car, to let the car tell her what it needs and to let the car know what she expects from it. Her frustration today is simply that she has lost that "listening" time. Some drivers can immediately attack a course and be hot out of the box. Danica is much more methodical about her approach, and she will most likely always be so. Nothing wrong with that, it's just her method for finding the zen of car, track and driver.

Tomorrow when she puts her suit on, she will be as she always is, totally focused on the task at hand. Tonite she will work with her team to translate what the car was saying today, as well as think about what she learned from the track. When the green flag drops for practice, we'll see how well it has come together and what there is yet to learn. Regardless of the result we, and she, will undoubtably be frustrated because no matter how well any of us do, we all know that it can be done better. That, my friends, is character, and Danica has it in spades.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on July 11, 2009 at 7:00am

Don, well said.
It's hard to say what is more attractive about Danica , her character or her beauty. The beauty is obvious and God -given and in a culture that often seems to overlook and under value character, which is forged and earned, it is inspiring to see it manifest so richly in this diminutive dynamo.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on July 11, 2009 at 11:49am

Props to Danica for coming back strong, getting out there under insane track conditions and tiptoeing around for P2 in today's practice. She is poised for a potentially good qualifying run if they are running "wets" and even if they are running "reds" and "blacks" on a dry track, she probably got some good info this AM about her car and the track. Go Girl!!

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on July 11, 2009 at 4:18pm

Danica Patrick: "It's been a pretty interesting day for us. We had a pretty decent car during this morning's session, even though it was the worst track conditions you would drive in. But once the track dried, we lost all the grip. I don't know what the solution is, but as a team we are all behind the eight-ball and it's really frustrating for me and my teammates. Anything can happen in the race tomorrow, so hopefully things will fall our way."

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Permalink Reply by Arci on July 11, 2009 at 4:44pm

let's hope that she has a better race, than how the weekend has been so far

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Permalink Reply by Kal7 on July 11, 2009 at 5:23pm

I agree with danica that anything can happen in the race tomorrow, so i'm hoping every thing goes her way. The whole team has struggled and they need to catch a break sooner or later! Go DP!

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