De Silvestro Enters Oval Phase Of The 2010 Season

Kansas, April 30, 2010: De Silvestro will make her debut this weekend with the added benefit of having just completed a brief test at the very same speedway. As part of an all-rookie oval test day, which was originally scheduled for last week but was postponed due to rain, the Wednesday, April 28th test session was designed to allow this year’s crop of rookie drivers to become acclimated to oval track racing and begin to hone their oval racing skills. Despite the gusty wind conditions, De Silvestro and the No. 78 Stargate Resistance Dallara Honda got up to speed quickly and by the end of the day had completed 85 incident free laps, signaling her readiness to compete at the oval.

The Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway will be shown on Saturday, May 1st on ABC at 1:30 pm EST.

Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78 - “My oval rookie test went very well, and though it was scary at first, I soon began to get comfortable and eventually enjoyed being out there. Obviously racing on an oval is new to me so I will definitely use the opportunity to learn as much as I can, which I already started doing with the test. With each session I was able to learn more about the car and its capabilities and its limits and I’ll gain more knowledge during the race. The goal for this weekend is to finish and I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing Team Principal – “We are very aware about Simona's lack of experience on the ovals. We have set ourselves with reasonable expectations and I'm confident in her ability to get comfortable and build towards the Indy 500."

Imran Safiulla, Team Stargate Worlds Principal - “We now embark on a new challenge. Simona has had no oval racing experience in her career, but we are confident that she will learn quickly. We did get some running on an oval in our Indy Lights car and yesterday's rookie session would have also helped her get an eye in. We have realistic goals and hope to gain some valuable experience."