American Danica Patrick has won the Motegi round of the IRL IndyCar Series - the first female to win a top-line American open wheel race.

Danica's win was no fluke: she's been knocking on the door of a victory for the past three years, and consistently ran in the top six of the Motegi race.

Patrick used a smart fuel strategy to take the win, grabbing the lead two laps from the end when her rivals were forced to make a fuel stop.

Danica had already topped up during an earlier full-course yellow, enabling her to stay on track while Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Penske's Helio Castroneves dived for the pits for a splash-and-dash.

Expect some 'Danica to F1' rumours to surface over the next couple of weeks...

Nick Trott