Looks like Danica! will finally be getting that F1 test she wants.
Honda has confirmed that Danica Patrick will get a test in one of its Formula One cars later this year, fuelling speculation that the American is also to be given a race chance in the top flight in the not-too-distant future.Well good for her...hold up, wait a minute!
Honda CEO Nick Fry has admitted to Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung that a test will indeed take place, and that it is likely to do so at either Barcelona or Jerez in Spain in November, following the end of the 2008 F1 campaign.
“We will put her into our car after the season at the latest and see how quick she is,” the Briton said.
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Nick Fry has denied reports that IndyCar race winner Danica Patrick is scheduled to test for Honda later this year.Fry later admitted his words may have been misinterpreted by the Austrian press, saying that “We will put her into our car and see how quick she is” was a hypothetical response to a question about what Max Mosley would say if Mrs Hospenthal asked for a ride.
The Honda CEO, though, has denied ever saying this, stating that there are no plans in place to test Patrick.
"There has been no contact between us," he told Autosport.
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OK, I totally made up that last part, but if there’s a better explanation out there please enlighten us.
Well if Toyota is testing with Kyle Busch, maybe Honda is holding out for Dale Jr.
:^/
What's Japanese for "WOO-HOO JOOONNNYEEERRRR!!" anyway?
Danica would love driving a pig Honda in F1 (shooting for P14!) and she'd have ample opportunity to march down pit lane after getting hip checked out into the kitty litter. Given how sweet she has it in the IRL, I can imagine her jumping to a pig F1 team. Makes no business sense, and Danica is all business. If anything, I'd believe it's mainly to increase her bargaining power for the next contract.
Ok, I'm confused. I read one quote where Danica was asked if she would be interested in testing for F1 - she said something like, I'd be interested if it was a real test. As far as I know, no further comment from Mrs. H about
F1. (I don't read everything out there so maybe I missed something)
Next we see the stories quoted by Jeff today, and suddenly its, Danica to get the test she wants so bad. I don't believe she ever said she wanted it SO BAD.
Just seems to me that anything with Danica's name attached to it gets totally blown out of proportion, with wants, thoughts and statements attributed to her that only exist in the writers mind.
My 2 cents.
Here's the answer. In F1, there are tests, and there are "tests", the latter being off season publicity stunts to gin up interest in during the inevitable post season media slowdown.
As Johnny noted, there are different types of tests. The first category would be an audition for a prospective driver (or backup driver) for a team, while the other type would be a "take it for a spin and we'll shoot some pictures" deal.
Pretty much any IndyCar driver would be in the latter category, although just about all of them would love to drive an F1 car for a few laps even if it wasn't likely to lead to a job offer.
Props to Johnny for using "gin up" excellently in a sentence.
This is sort of like when Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya swapped cars for a "test" on SPEED a few years ago. When Montoya said the stock car was tougher to drive than he expected, NASCAR fans were all atwitter about getting some international respect, and when Jeff Gordon did better in the F1 car than Montoya did in the stock car, the motoring press was atwitter that an F1 team would give Jeff a shot. It wasn't a test. It was a exhibition event. Albeit a cool one. Similarly, seeing what Danica Patrick could do in a Honda, or Kyle Busch in a Toyota, or Graham Rahal in a BMW, or even Dale Jr. in an IndyCar, would be great fun. I think those cross-over moments drive interest in motorsports in general. One of the best things that could happen for IndyCar is for Kevin Harvick to race a one-off at Sonoma, or for Dale Jr. to turn some hot laps at Texas, and to have them climb out afterwards with a big dopey grin on their face, saying, "Wow, those things are FAST."
Also, I think letting drivers occasionally try something different helps keep them from wondering if the grass is greener. If Sam Hornish has run Daytona every year for the last few, and tried the Memorial Day Double once, he might not have wondered as much what a full-time cup ride would be like.
Honda is auditioning for a replacement of 57 year old Rubens Barichello ! :P
The Honda people keep flip flopping on the test drive issue. I guess we will wait and see the outcome in 2009.