Milka Duno To Run 10 Races

Tim Northcutt · 23 Mar 2007, 17:04 (Ref:1874609)

Milka Duno and Team SAMAX made it official at a news conference this morning at Homestead.

She will run 10 races this season, including the Indy 500, and the schedule will comprise 8 ovals and two road courses.

Here is the link from the IRL's site:

http://www.indycar.com/news/story.php?story_id=8431

Rob29 · 23 Mar 2007, 19:03 (Ref:1874673)

Wow! THREE women in a major single seater series.Pity Katherine cannot get a drive for the Indy500 to make it 4.

BootsOntheSide · 23 Mar 2007, 19:14 (Ref:1874680)

Good news to have another car on the grid. The only problem for the female drivers is to mark themselves out as something other than a Danica copyist (in theory, easy enough, as Milka's CV is strong).

marcus · 23 Mar 2007, 20:04 (Ref:1874723)

Ive never seen here drive but have heard alot about her so I will be watching with interest thats for sure.

well done and I wish her well

Neil22 · 23 Mar 2007, 20:28 (Ref:1874744)

The media frenzy is going to be ridiculous. I think Danica has the upper hand though, with the quality of her team.

ensign14 · 23 Mar 2007, 22:16 (Ref:1874807)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

(in theory, easy enough, as Milka's CV is strong).

Yeah...2nd at Daytona after losing 430 seconds in 10 minutes, winner of sportscar races after Andy Wallace gets a twelve lap lead, nice thingies...

D70s · 24 Mar 2007, 00:50 (Ref:1874858)

Milka will give Marty Roth a run for his money and look much better doing it.

To be fair we've never seen her on an oval. Perhaps it's something she will truly accel at. The thing that's going to put them at the back of the grid is the rookie team / rookie driver combination. Hopefully they will run a second car for thier other DP driver later on.

Tim Northcutt · 24 Mar 2007, 02:09 (Ref:1874878)

I agree...personally, I think she is a stiff....and I follow sportscar racing avidly

A Marty Roth with collagen lips...

mountainstar · 24 Mar 2007, 02:37 (Ref:1874897)

And as word has it some boob work as well.

She lists her age as 35, I hear it's more like 45.

I'm not a fan of citgo.

cmk · 24 Mar 2007, 02:56 (Ref:1874909)

Regardless of the "queen of GARRA"'s surgically enhanced appearance, the fact remains that she's a hack as a racing driver. Chronically off the pace, flattered massively by her co-drivers: the aforementioned Andy Wallace, who repeatedly drove the wheels off the CITGO Crawford to garner those wins after she plodded around at the back of the field, and the esteemed Mssrs. Manning, Dalziel and Carpentier, whom she arguably denied a Rolex 24 victory with her lackluster rapidity.

Good for Peter Baron's SAMAX organization though. He's a top bloke and knows how to screw a car together well. Always willing to spend every $$ he has to put someone talented in a car, and not just the expected individuals. Too bad, like everyone else, he has to resort to paying drivers at times.

Fogelhund · 24 Mar 2007, 03:02 (Ref:1874911)

Indeed, a hack. She doesn't belong in the IRL, and never really belonged in Grand Am, or ALMS before that. Let's hope she can figure out how to stay out of the way, and hopefully nobody gets hurt.

She is easily the least talented American Open Wheel driver for 07'.

Peno · 24 Mar 2007, 09:41 (Ref:1874976)

Milka for 2007 ROTY!!!

rustyfan · 24 Mar 2007, 11:44 (Ref:1875006)

Given the sad state of US OW it is in no position to complain when there's another car added to the grid, IMHO.

As for her skills I'll reserve judgment on that until I see her in IndyCar, since I - unfortunately - don't get to see US sports car racing here in Sweden.

Knowlesy · 25 Mar 2007, 01:28 (Ref:1875400)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peno

Milka for 2007 ROTY!!!

"Female ROTY" at least...

Snrub · 25 Mar 2007, 03:47 (Ref:1875464)

I don't get the appeal, I really don't. Take for example Fisher. She lost her seat and wasn't exactly on the radar for a couple of years. She has some talent, but she'll never be a contender. Fisher only barely gets back and Duno has a ride? If it had to be a women, I almost wonder if it would have made more sense to drop someone like Simona De Silvestro in the car (and I don't know much about her other than she had a good FBMW season).

Does Citgo really get better exposure by having a good driver or a women? If you were SAMAX and had the choice of running Pat or Milka, who would you pick? I suspect that their choice will be an expensive one. We all know how easy it is to end up in the wall in an OW car, particularly on an oval. For her sake, let's just hope she's safe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainstar

She lists her age as 35, I hear it's more like 45.

The fact that she thinks it matters says a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Given the sad state of US OW it is in no position to complain when there's another car added to the grid, IMHO.

Sadly you're 100% right. It's just that there are SO many terrific drivers out there who deserve sponsorship before her. So few deserving lower level OW drivers make it to the top level. Sportscars are litterly flooded with terrific drivers that would love to have that seat.

Cheyne · 25 Mar 2007, 04:08 (Ref:1875472)

I don't think CITGO really cares since it is basicly her husband and his money. She can afford the ride so she gets the ride. The more equipment she wrecks the more money the team will make selling her husband more parts.

Cheyne

Rob29 · 25 Mar 2007, 10:05 (Ref:1875650)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snrub

If it had to be a women, I almost wonder if it would have made more sense to drop someone like Simona De Silvestro in the car (and I don't know much about her other than she had a good FBMW season).

.

A Swiss lady ,she is doing Atlantic this year.Perhaps the most promising woman at the moment.Current tally above F3 level;
F1,A1GP,GP Masters-NIL
IRL-Danica Sarah & Milka
Champcar-Katherine Legge
GP2,F.Nippon,IPS,Renault V6 Asia -NIL
World Series Renault-Pippa Mann
Intl Masters-Kieko Ihara
The last 2 look as promising as Ms Duno

ensign14 · 25 Mar 2007, 13:28 (Ref:1875805)

ISTR Sara Senske being something of a talent but she ran out of funding.

Cheyne · 25 Mar 2007, 15:11 (Ref:1875859)

Sara is working for the Petty Driving Experience as a instructor and still helping out with the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program. She was my daughter's team lead at the LSJDDP this past year.

Cheyne

mountainstar · 25 Mar 2007, 15:48 (Ref:1875876)

Sara was very talented. Too bad her career didn't go much further.

I like Lyn St. James. I spent 2 hours talking with her a few summers ago and it helped me move my motorsport career forward. She gave a lot of good advice.

When Duno raced WSR a few years ago she was way, way off the pace. Sticking her in one of these rocketships seems pretty dodgy.

ensign14 · 25 Mar 2007, 16:15 (Ref:1875892)

It'll be a good test to see just how easy (or difficult) it is to get them up to a reasonable pace.

Neil22 · 26 Mar 2007, 17:43 (Ref:1876910)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peno

Milka for 2007 ROTY!!!

She wins, she is the only rookie in IRL this year.

Bluewolf · 26 Mar 2007, 20:40 (Ref:1877055)

The subject of gender to me is not important at all. The only thing that's important is getting the best possible drivers in any series -- and if that results in fields that are 0 percent female or 100 percent female or anywhere in between is not important. I want teams to just simply get the best racers they can regardless of gender because those are the ones who deserve to be there.

KA · 27 Mar 2007, 12:47 (Ref:1877615)

Quote:

Originally Posted by D70s

Milka will give Marty Roth a run for his money and look much better doing it.

To be fair we've never seen her on an oval. Perhaps it's something she will truly accel at. The thing that's going to put them at the back of the grid is the rookie team / rookie driver combination. Hopefully they will run a second car for thier other DP driver later on.

there seems to be some concern about the idea of Milka on an oval...

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/36275/

Snrub · 27 Mar 2007, 17:47 (Ref:1877827)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin Miller in the linked article

"She has trouble running side-by-side in these cars and I shudder to think what she'll be like with open wheels," said one veteran sports car racer.

Anyone disturbed yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin Miller in the linked article

For the woman who ran mid-pack in the celebrity category of the annual Toyota Celebrity Race at Long Beach a few years ago...

How about now? [I believe he's exagerting some, she was entered in the professional catagory in 2003 and was beaten by a both celeb (who are given an advantage) and professional drivers whom I've never heard of]

I remember watching Grand Am races where the Citgo car pits much earlier than everyone else to do a driver swap. Then Andy Wallace would go out and race back to erase the deficit. It appears that some of that is still happening. It must be a hard thing to deal with for the team and other driver(s). Basically being on the Citgo team means that you are handicaped in the championship. You lose time due to a slow teammate and you lose time due to early pit stops.

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