MILKA DUNO (#23 CITGO Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): “I am so happy. Remember when I was here before my rookie orientation test? It’s so fast. It’s a so, so difficult track. But my team, the CITGO SAMAX team, did a fantastic job. After what happened last week (crash), we recovered. We have a very good car. Good run. The team did something fantastic with the car. I have such a good car for qualifying. We lost last week because they (the team) were fixing the car, but they did something amazing. I am so pleased with my engineers. (All the guys on my team), they are super, super guys. ”
How much anxiety did you have after your accident? :
“Um, I forgot already what happened last Friday. But, it was tough because we only have one car. I was worried because I didn’t know if they would have the car ready. But I did have confidence because they are super guys. They have so much experience, and they are so good. They made it be possible. Now we are here in the Indy 500. I was telling all the time, ‘There’s still 11 places left for qualifying, and one is mine. I’m here. ”
About finding the proper line around the track at Indy:
“After when I talk with Brian Barnhart, all the guys that helped me, Pancho (Carter), Rick Mears, everybody that help me, I understand that the track changes all the time. ”
Did someone tell you to stay away from the wall during your run? :
“No, no. The speed that we got today, the car can do today. But we can have a faster car. ” (For qualifying today), we were looking around 219. If we can make a faster car, we can do it. We didn’t need to go 222; 223; 224. You were looking for a good qualifying and safety. They can make the car quick. ”
Milka, this marks the first time ever there have been three women in the field. What does that mean to you? :
“I think the women show that they can do anything that they want. You see women like presidents, ministers, economists, engineers, doctors, race car drivers. Always I say, when you talk about a profession, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man. The importance is how good you are in the same activity. ”
