By Phil Huff
June 17 2005

We've been saying it on the message boards for a while now, but the rumour still refuses to die down. Danica Patrick will not be driving a BAR Honda at Indianapolis. The media at large has been building the story that Danica Patrick, the young lady who finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500 just a couple of weeks ago, will perform some demonstration runs at Indianapolis this weekend before the Unites States Grand Prix.

However, it's been clear from day one that other commitments would prevent the American racer from performing at Indy, which is why the story didn't appear here at BAR-Talk.com.

We've been told a number of times by BAR Honda themselves that the drive won't happen, although all parties agree that it would be a great coup for the Brackley squad.

While a few demo laps and a photo shoot would have helped raise the profile of F1 in America, we can't help but think that the show would have been nothing more than a gimmick, with little chance of assessing Danica's suitability for a Grand Prix drive.

A better option, for Danica, BAR and F1, would be a full test later. However, this would eat into the self-imposed 30 day testing limit, and would therefore likely occur after the season has finished. Should that be the case, there's every chance that Danica's 2006 season will already have been agreed, probably in the IRL.

Danica has raced alongside Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson in Formula Ford, with both drivers proclaiming that they have a healthy respect for the 22 year old.