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Simona De Silvestro Qualifies 20th in Iowa Debut


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NEWTON, June 20, 2010: After a 2-week break that saw the Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing crew work at a blistering pace to get the team's sole back up car prepared for this weekend, Simona De Silvestro and crew arrived at Iowa Speedway this morning looking forward to qualifying for tomorrow’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 race. The young rookie was hoping to post a qualifying run that would allow for a good starting spot for tomorrow’s race.

Simona made good use of the two practice sessions earlier in the day. For the first practice session she ran a total of 48 laps with a best lap time of 00.18.4767 and a best speed of 174.187 mph. As the team improved her car, and with more experience, her speeds increased during practice session #2. For that session Simona ran a total of 63 laps with a best lap time of 00.18.0262 and a best speed of 178.540 mph.

Qualifying 12th in the order, Simona entered the track and threw down a first lap speed of 176.945 mph. She continued to progress and her 2nd lap was faster with a speed of 177.891 mph, She followed that with a third lap speed of 178.364 and finally her last lap was fastest at 178.485 mph. Her 4-lap average speed was 177.919 mph. After the remaining drivers had completed their qualifying run Simona would end up in the 20th spot.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 race will be broadcast this Sunday, Father’s Day, on Versus at 1:30 pm (EST). Live Timing and Scoring, along with Video feeds, will be provided at www.indycar.com. In addition, the IMS Radio Network and XM Channel 145 and Sirius Channel 221 will be airing the race.

Simona De Silvestro, Driver No. 78 - “It's been a hectic 2 weeks and now, having qualified the car in the 20th spot, I feel this is a big accomplishment for the team. It's a testament to how hard work and perseverance pays off. Now I will have to do my part and race a smart race and hopefully we can have a great result tomorrow. A big thanks to the crew."

Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing Team Principal – “It was a satisfactory day for her first run here, as it is again a different style of oval with its own characteristics and many teams tested here earlier. We of course want to be better, but again we expect to progress forward in the race.”