Feb 4, 2008

Milk of Kindness Doesn't Flow on Milka

One thing is sure: for Vois (pronounced "Voice"), a global social networking online community for people ages 25 to 50, Milka Duno is just the right fit. She's young, attractive and, according to her profile, "straight" and looking for a "committed relationship." And beyond that, the Venezuelan racing driver-turned-actress is more than a bit controversial.

Her most recent start was in the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours, where she was teamed in the Vois Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype with co-drivers Ryan Dalziel, Tomas Enge and Harold Primat. She was also the first woman to win a major international sports car race in North America, but when she ventured into IndyCar racing last year, some said she was out of her league.

In the 2007 IndyCar series, racing in the shadow of Danica Patrick, Duno became the first Latin woman to qualify and race in the Indianapolis 500. But her performance in the series didn't endear her to the other drivers. In fact, no less a racing expert than actress Ashley Judd, the wife of driver Dario Franchitti, was quoted as saying, "I know this is not very sportsmanlike, but they've got to get the 23 car (Duno) off the track. It's very dangerous. I'm tired of holding my tongue. She shouldn't be out there. When a car is 10 miles (an hour) off the pace, it's not appropriate to be racing. People's lives are at stake."

Sadly, Duno, a former model and naval engineer (a logical combination), didn't exactly set the Brickyard on fire last May.  Duno was the second-slowest qualifier in a field that, for the first time ever, included three women, and she crashed on lap 65 and finished in 31st place. And that was only a prelude to what was to come. In August, after several less-than-stellar starts, IndyCar officials met with her team, SAMAX Motorsports, to try to come to some conclusion about her progress or lack thereof in the series. She was put on probation and sat out a race, perhaps because of her commitment to the upcoming "Speed Racer" movie in which she has a role, and then emerged to participate in the final race of the season, where she finished 15th. That's when Judd voiced (or should we say "voised") her opinion.

This year Duno plans to race in her fifth consecutive season in the Rolex Sports Car Series where she has had success that has eluded her in open-wheel racing. Last season Milka and her co-drivers came in second place at Daytona. For a better look at her, you might enjoy the live-action movie "Speed Racer," based on the classic anime series of the 1960s. She is playing the role of Gearbox. Whether she will play the role of IndyCar driver again remains to be seen.