De Silvestro Completes First Oval Race Of The Season

KANSAS CITY, May 2, 2010: Many eyes were on Simona De Silvestro this weekend as the young rookie entered her first oval track race attempt at this weekend’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway. With 4 road and street races already completed in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar series season, the Mont Sur Rolle, Switzerland native still had a question to answer; can she successfully complete her first oval race? While it may have been a daunting task, especially for a rookie with very limited oval track experience; by the time the race was over Simona would go on to answer that question with a very clear, yes.

Having qualified in the 18th spot yesterday, Simona took the green flag with the goal of learning and gaining oval racing experience in mind. She turned her first laps around the 1.5 mile track and started getting acquainted to the fast paced back and forth action of oval track racing. Holding her own, Simona got as high as 12th and ran some very competitive laps while learning to race in traffic. Simona pitted her No. 78 Stargate Resistance entry on laps 29, 74, 120, and 173. She would go on to finish in the 21st position, taking with her valuable experience to the next race, the most important race of her career: The 94th Annual Indianapolis 500, where she will attempt to qualify on May 22nd and 23rd.

Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78 - “The race went well and was pretty interesting especially in the first couple of laps when I started racing in a lot of traffic, which for me was something very new, and so I had to get used to that. After a couple of laps I started to get used to it and began learning about which lines to drive and eventually my times started picking up a bit. I began to put up some competitive lap times and continued to do so throughout the whole race. In general, I learned a lot today and will be able to go back home and think about it. I can’t wait for the next race.”

Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing Team Principal – “Simona did everything we asked of her. She continued to learn and did a very sensible job out there today considering it was her first oval race. We are a little disappointed in that we lost 3 spots in the last stint, but we look forward to getting better at the next race and seeing her development continue further.”

Imran Safiulla, Team Stargate Worlds Principal - “We are quite happy with the overall weekend. Simona met most of our objectives coming into the weekend and we will leave here with valuable experience. Considering how new the ovals are to her, she faired very well. The finish didn't completely represent our race pace and we are encouraged heading into Indy.”