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Patrick glad victory wait is over

Danica Patrick has expressed her relief at scoring her first IndyCar win in 50 attempts

The 26-year-old made her IndyCar debut in 2005 and caused a stir when she led, and came close to winning, the Indianapolis 500 in her debut season.

But she had to wait another three years for her first taste of victory at Motegi on Sunday - which was also her first win in single-seaters.

"It feels like it's taken a long time," she said. "I had a lot of opportunities last year that were missed due to bad luck and I can only say I'm glad it's over.

"Dreams really do come true, you just have to be persistent enough. I'm definitely a persistent one and always work very hard. I've been asked so many times when I'm going to win my first race and, finally, no more of those questions."

Patrick recalled a conversation she had with former Andretti Green Racing teammate Bryan Herta when she qualified on the front row at Mid-Ohio last season.

"It was my first time on the front row at a road course and he said, 'when you win your first race you're going to think 'I wasn't doing anything different that day, it just happened'. He was right.

"I wasn't doing anything that different at Motegi, it just happened. You work hard and do the best you can, and this is payback for times it should have happened.

"While it was obviously a great race and I won, I'm not going to say it was my best and favorite race of all time. There have been plenty of others that were very challenging and rewarding, but they weren't for wins.

"I have to thank Michael (Andretti), Kim (Green) and Kevin (Savoree). They've believed in me since the very beginning and this validates their decision. To get my first win is great."

She also admitted the significance of her victory as the first major single-seater win for a female driver.

"It's going to be one of those things that's remembered," she said. "It's a first, and firsts are always in history books. I've definitely thought about it before and I've always wanted to be that person.

"It's probably one of the only things I ever really thought of myself as a girl. Otherwise, I don't really think about it a lot. But I did think it would be nice to be the first female to win in history.

"I grew up never really thinking of guys as a reference, I was just using drivers as a reference and if I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't fast enough. That was always the most important thing, I didn't think 'I'm the best girl out here today', I grew up with the right attitude to translate into a more competitive world."

Sarah Fisher, who was the first woman to take an IndyCar pole position, at Kentucky in 2002, said: "This marks the celebration for all of us who have chipped away at the barriers that many women have faced in fields that are dominated by men."

Patrick's team boss Michael Andretti joined those paying tribute to her achievement.

"I'm so happy for her and so proud of her. It's always been a question of when, not if, she was going to win and I'm so proud of the way she did it. I love this girl. She is just a first class individual and I'm so happy that monkey is off her back. You'll see, there's going to be more of this to come."

Rival team boss Derrick Walker also believes the significance of her victory will have a great impact on the sport.

"We'll all look back some day and see just how much it helped propel the sport forward," he said. "Tony George now has some great tools to work with."

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