Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro has graduated to the IZOD IndyCar series this season after having performed very well in the Formula Atlantics series. Simona talked to Auto123.com about her performance at the Grand Prix of Long Beach this past weekend.
De Silvestro, driving the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car, already has led laps this season (Brazil), has run in the top 10 consistently and -- given a little more luck -- would have finished in the top 10. She qualified 11th in the streets of Long Beach and finished 17th.
“Long Beach was a difficult race for me,” she told Auto123.com. “We gamble on making an earlier-than-scheduled pit stop, but that did not worked in our favour. I ended up in heavy traffic with several slower cars in front of me. The car was handling well during the race. However, it was a little slow coming out of the last corner, which made it impossible to pass competitors at the end of the long straight. The race result does not reflect well our true level of performance,” she said.
With four IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course races under her helmet the 21-year-old Switzerland native is looking forward to her first oval experience. De Silvestro, Takuma Sato of KV Racing Technology, and Mario Romancini and Bertrand Baguette of Conquest Racing will participate in rookie testing April 23 at Kansas Speedway. The 1.5-mile, variably banked facility will host the first IZOD IndyCar Series oval race of the season May 1. “Racing on an oval in an IndyCar will be new to me. But I am confident and I will try to learn as much as possible. It is a new and exciting challenge for me,” she said.
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