THE RETURN LEGGE: FINALLY THE REAL DEAL.

Lose one girl, rediscover another. That’s the gender situation in IndyCar racing this season with Katherine Legge returning to the open-wheeler series, driving alongside four-times series champ Sebastien Bourdais at Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing. The move keeps a desirable female presence in the series now glamour girl Danica Patrick has packed her race gear and headed for a full-time career in NASCAR. Legge, a Briton, raced in the US Champ Car series some seasons ago and, since 2008, has been with the Audi team in the German touring car championship. She is relishing her return to open-wheel cars. ”It’s the kind of tracks they race on – the street courses, the road courses, the ovals, the airport courses … it’s everything.” And there’s the Indy 500, which she has wanted to do since primary school. Legge and Switzerland’s impressive Simona de Silvestro are the only women drivers with full-time IndyCar deals in 2012. Legge says her priority is to ignore genders and beat all comers, as she once did in the Toyota Atlantic Series.