IRL: St. Pete: Danica Patrick race report

Patrick Wheels Motorola Car to Eighth-Place Finish at Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 1, 2007) - Motorola driver Danica Patrick started 11th, ran a consistent, trouble-free race and finished eighth Sunday at the third annual Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Patrick, who was driving the #7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone in just her second race for Andretti Green Racing, capitalized on an early incident involving teammates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti and moved into the top 10 just after the start. From there, it was a matter of car management and fuel conservation at key times over the duration of the 100-lap event. For Patrick, Sunday's result was her second-consecutive top-eight finish at the Honda Grand Prix, preceded by last year's sixth-place run.

Helio Castroneves captured his second-straight Honda Grand Prix victory and was followed by points leader Scott Dixon. Kanaan rebounded to finish third and was followed by teammates Marco Andretti in fourth and Franchitti in fifth.

Next up for the IndyCar Series is the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Live coverage of the event can be heard by XM subscribers on XM channel 144 beginning at 11:30 p.m. (EDT) on April 20. ESPN will televise the event on a tape-delayed basis at noon (EDT) on April 21.

Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

"I'm happy with the way the Motorola car performed today. It was a good car; it was a consistent car. I just didn't feel like I had the run down the front-straight to get anyone. I was good on the brakes and I was alright everywhere else. I just couldn't get on the power. On my own, I just need to work on getting up to speed quicker so I can capitalize on our good pit stops."

Kim Green, Race Strategist, #7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

"You're never totally happy unless you win, but I think we fought hard all day today. We had great pit stops and Danica did a good job. We had to save fuel a couple times and still go fast. I was pretty demanding with her today in that respect and I'm really proud of her efforts. I'm proud of everyone on Team Motorola for the job they did in our first road course race together. I can't wait for the next one."

-credit: agr