De Silvestro Has Disappointing Run In Kentucky

Sparta, August 7, 2010: Entering the weekend, Stargate Worlds / HVM Racing’s Simona De Silvestro had high hopes for a strong finish and the chance to close in on the hotly contested IZOD IndyCar Rookie of the Year honors.

After a shortened practice due to rain, adjustments were made to the Stargate Resistance #78 car in time for qualifying, allowing the team to improve their position from 23rd fastest in practice to 19th in qualifying. Then an additional practice session was used to further improve the car for the race, making it comfortable and competitive in traffic.

As the start of the race approached, Simona was confident in the car and was looking forward to a strong run. Shortly after the green flag, Simona slipped back a position but then started to settle in. Simona started running laps just hundredths of a second off the leader’s times and began to gain on cars in front of her. After a pit stop on lap 53, she put her sights on the #32 car. After several laps of trying to get around him, her pace dropped off by half a second and now the leaders were fast approaching.

On lap 78, in an effort to yield to the leaders, and with cars passing her on the outside, Simona began to work her way down to the inside of the track as instructed under IRL protocol. As she did, a car dived down inside and contact was made with the #14 and #6 cars before going into the wall and ending her race.

“The leaders were passing us, I went to the bottom to let everyone by and Vitor (Meira) stuck himself inside. I knew that Ryan (Briscoe) was on the outside. I was letting everyone by on the top, because I knew I was slower and he (Vitor) just tried to make it in and it didn’t happen. It was a big hit. Ryan was running well so I feel bad that our race ended like this,” commented Simona.

“We were improving the car during the session and that is what we needed to do. The car felt pretty good and we were confident when running the high lines.”

HVM Racing Team Owner, Keith Wiggins: “We came into this weekend with an improved car. It was important for us to have a solid finish and for Simona to continue to gain valuable experience on the ovals. This was a disappointing end to the weekend, but we are happy that Simona is ok. Now we have to build a new car in time and focus on Japan and Miami.”